Mile High
by PockyisLife
Summary: It was all because of a dare. One stupid dare that I knew I shouldn't have done. Seriously, why the hell did I think that walking up to a male flight attendant and kissing him in front of two hundred people was a good idea?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia. This disclaimer will be in effect for the entire story.**

**Author's Note: This idea literally came out of nowhere. I was watching a football game and then- there it was inspiration. I wish I had inspiration from my uncompleted stories, but ah well. This is my first me writing a Hetalia, first person and a slash story- not counting for a mini drabble I did. **

"Check out that brunette, three aisles ahead, in the last seat. You know, the one with the terrific ass."

I didn't bother looking at the woman Gilbert was referring to. I wasn't interested in women like Gilbert. Unlike him, I didn't dedicate my life to chasing skirts and breaking women's heart because I had serious commitment issues. And unlike him, I had no intention, none what so ever, on getting a girlfriend for the flight.

Gilbert thought it was blasphemous, but he shouldn't be the one preaching to others about blasphemous behavior.

"I know this is hard for your puny brain to understand, but can you leave me the hell alone?"

"Just because you're deathly afraid of planes doesn't mean you should take your frustrations out on me," Gilbert said, leaning over my lap to get a better view of the aisle next to me. I wasn't going to move, not for him to hit on some chick. "I'm bored. This plane has been on this runway forever."

I groaned and slid down my seat.

I didn't want to be here.

I was on a twohour plane ride from Chicago to New York City.

Soon to be two hour plane ride because we had not left the runaway yet.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this damn plane that I didn't want to be on in the first place- and no, just because I had nightmares of planes didn't mean I was scared of them- was in fucking traffic. For some reason, there were tons of planes waiting to lift off and of course, no one thought of telling anyone about this delay until a few minutes ago.

We'd been waiting for an hour. A whole hour and thanks to the lovely heat wave outside, the air conditioner was cranked up high which meant the plane could over heat and-

No, I wasn't going to think about that because I, Romano Vargas was not afraid of planes or plane crashes or explosions. I wasn't afraid of anything, damn it!

The only reason I was on this damn plane was because Elizabeta had an epiphany a few days ago about her destiny was a model. And instead of being at home, listening to my idiotic younger twin swoon over that potato bastard whom I refused to name, I was forced, along with Gilbert, to help Elizabeta to find a real modeling agency. In the god damn largest city in the world.

Fine. I wasn't forced. I owed Liz a shit ton for getting me a job and I always wanted to see the Statue of Liberty, but I wasn't going to admit that out loud.

"I'm bored," Gilbert said again, sitting back in his seat. He gave me a mean look since I refused to move so he could flirt with the woman with the great ass- how he would know what her ass looked like since she didn't get up, I had no idea.

"Go to sleep, Gilbert. No one wants to hear your mouth."

"But I'm bored."

"Here's an idea: instead of bothering us about how bored you are, why don't you do something useful and entertain yourself?"

I couldn't agree with Liz more.

"Shut up, Eliza,"

"Don't call me Eliza." Liz slowly put her magazine on her lap and gave Gilbert a sharp look. "And don't you dare tell me to shut up."

Gilbert and Elizabeta had the most complicated love-hate relationship on the face of the planet. One second that wanted to rip each other's head off and then the next, they wanted nothing more than to fuck each other. They needed to get their feelings straightened out before I forced them to see Feli- he was relationship therapist; he could deal with their bullshit.

Gilbert wisely didn't say anything else to Liz and directed his attention to me. "Alright, fine, I'll entertain myself. Let's play truth or dare."

Liz snorted and rolled her eyes.

"What are we in?" I asked, not believing that he suggested we play a kid's game on a crowded plane. "Middle school?"

"Oh come on," Gilbert shrugged. "It's a harmless game. Anyway, we're in a metal tube full of people; they're only so many things we could do."

"Fine," I snapped, crossing my arms and no, contrary to what Liz claimed, I was not pouting. "I pick dare and get this over with!"

"No problem," Gilbert said smirking with that evil look in his eyes that I couldn't stand. He looked around the plane then turned back to me. "Okay then, I dare you to give someone you don't know a kiss."

I glared at my friend who shouldn't be my friend because all he did was make my life a living breathing hell. This was his evil plan. Sure, all I had to do was find some willing lady and give a quick kiss- after I explained to her about the dare. There was nothing worse than dealing with a woman who thought you were a pervert.

Just ask Gilbert. I wasn't sure if he could produce kids.

"Fine," I said through gritted teach. I was going to get back at him. Oh, by the time I would be done with him, he was going to wish he was never born.

Gilbert looked at me shocked, as if he wasn't expecting me to agree with the dare.

Really? I was Romano; I wasn't afraid of some stupid dare.

Liz snorted again.

"Fine," I said again as I rose from my seat. I could do this. I could prove to everyone that I wasn't a coward- I wasn't Feli, damn it. This would be a piece of cake.

I walked into the aisle and approached this lady who looked like she was my age. I straightened up my clothes and right when I was about to talk to her, that damn Gilbert held me back by my shirt.

"What the hell is your problem?" I shouted, glaring at some of the passengers who were giving me weird looks. I didn't care. They should mind their own business.

"I wasn't finished explaining the dare."

What _more_ did he want me to do?

I hated him.

"What you do you want?"

Liz giggled behind her a magazine. Why couldn't she be useful and start and argument with Gilbert? Then the fool could leave me the hell alone.

"I didn't pick the person out for you yet."

I wondered how much trouble I would get if I dumped Gilbert's head in the plane's bathroom toilet?

"What do you mean you're going to pick the person out?"

Gilbert rolled his eyes before searching around the plane for the victim of this damn dare.

He turned around and gave me a sly smirk.

Oh, I had a bad feeling about this.

"Him," Gilbert said, pointing to one of the flight attendants who were preparing food trays. There were two women and a man. The women were attractive enough though the taller one looked like she could take me down- couldn't kiss her. The other lady was flirting with the man and the man was smiling politely with her.

He wasn't so bad looking either.

Whatever.

Wait- he said him! That meant-

I gulped. The asshole wanted me to kiss a man, in a plane, in front of two hundred people. He was going to pay. He was going to fucking pay. And I couldn't back down because that asshole wasn't going to shut up about the failed dare for the rest of the plane ride.

"Are you fucking serious?"

"It's a dare, Romano, of course I'm serious. Look, I'm not asking you to make out with the guy; just give him a little kiss before the plane takes off."

Liz shifted and craned her neck over the seats so see the man that Gilbert picked out for me. She nodded with approval. "Oh good choice, Gilbert. He's pretty cute. Nice eyes."

I knew he had nice eyes, damn it!

"Didn't I tell you to stay out of this?"

Liz stuck her tongue at me, winked at Gilbert who gave her a suggestive look and returned to reading.

"B-but he's a guy?"

That wasn't the real problem. I didn't mind kissing men, not that I was planned to tell anyone that. No one, except for Feliciano and Liz- knew about my sexuality.

Gilbert wouldn't mind. He was unfortunately my best friend. He would most likely not care and constantly tell me gay jokes because that was the type of person he was.

"That's why this is a dare," Gilbert responded because the fucker didn't see an issue with this dumbass dare.

"Then why don't _you_ kiss him?'

"Because I'm the one issuing the dare. I can't dare myself to do something."

"He has a point," Liz added.

"Just shut up and read your damn magazine," I snapped. "No one asked you."

_"We apologize for the inconvenience but due to intense traffic, we will not able to take off for another fifteen minutes."_

Great.

Just fucking great.

"Now, you have fifteen minutes to complete the dare."

I glared back at my now ex friend. "Shut the hell up! I know how long I have." I sighed. "I'll do it, but only if you pay me."

"What?"

"You want me to kiss some random guy, right? Well, you have to pay me. Just in case I get arrested for sexually harassing a flight attendant, and I have to pay my way out of jail."

Gilbert sent me a mean look as I smirked at him and went towards the front of the coach cabin. I stopped in of the two flight attendants; the other one was at the back of the plane.

Both of them looked at me expectantly.

"How can I help you?" the man with the stunning green eyes asked in that accent that made my knees weak- this was not supposed to happen, by the way- asked.

I looked around plane. No one was looking at us, except for my traitorous friends. Good. This could work.

"Can I speak to you about something?" I asked the man.

The woman gave me a dirty look.

The man gave me a warm smile.

"Sir," the taller woman said in a stern voice, coming from behind one of the food cards. "We will go into taxi soon. Please sit down and fasten your seat belt. We will let you know when it is safe for you to get out of your seat."

"No," the man, who according to his name tag was Antonio, said flashing me a blinding smile. "Don't worry about it, Maria. This gentleman wants to quickly talk to me, si?"

I gulped. I couldn't ask him for permission for the dare in front of his coworker; she was giving me suspicious looks. "Y-yes," I choked out, because there was something stuck in my throat. It had nothing with me being nervous. Nope, not at all.

The woman narrowed her eyes at the both of us before leaving to check on the passengers. I hoped she didn't suspect anything; that was the last thing I needed.

I returned my attention back the man in front of me and took a deep breath. "Your name is Antonio, right?"

Antonio leaned against one of the carts and smirked at me. I could tell he was having way too much fun with this. "Si, me llamo Antonio Carriedo."

"That's nice," I said quickly. "Look, don't take this the wrong way. I'm only doing this because of a dumbass dare. Don't sue me."

"W-what-?"

Antonio's eyes widened as I grabbed both sides of his face and planted a kiss right on his lips. I quickly let go and rushed back into my seat, ignoring the cat calls from Gilbert and the mortified looks from some of the passengers in front of me.

There I did it.

I couldn't believe I just gave a flight attendant a kiss.

In front of everyone.

Gilbert was not going to make it off this damn plane alive.

**Um… yeah, don't know how watching a game resulted in this but I always get inspiration during the oddest times but I hope it was enjoyable.**

**I have to admit, I don't really know where this is heading- except for a lemon and drama down the line- but I'm sure I will think of something- one of the many benefits of college winter breaks. Tell me what you think.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Three Weeks Later...**

"And for the millionth time, that is how I got almost got kicked off the plane to New York."

Feliciano, who listened to my entire story while resting his chin on his hands, finally sat up and clapped his hands- only he would clap his hands after hearing about my plane ride from hell. "Oh, fratello! I love when you tell me this. It's such a cute story! Did Antonio blush after you kissed him?"

Why was he asking me this again?

Ladies and Gentlemen, meet my freak of a younger twin brother, who not only had no business being related to me, but saw cuteness and rainbows in literally everything. Who the hell thought that story was cute? I almost got arrested all because that asshole, Gilbert, was bored!

"How the fuck am I supposed to know?" I shouted. "I got tackled by a federal agent and the only reason why my ass isn't in jail was because Ant- whatever, convinced the federal agent and the rest of the flight attendants that we were lovers! And even if he did, not that I care, that happened three weeks ago. I wouldn't remember anything."

I could not tell you the level of embarrassment I felt at that time. I was this close to jumping over the seats and strangle Gilbert but then I would have really been arrested.

Just to let you know, the model search in New York City was nothing short of a disaster. We only found one and I was pretty sure it was a part of an underground market. Gilbert and I soon found out that she did not bring us to New York to help Liz achieve her dream. She wanted the three of us to go on vacation together and lying was the only way to get on me on a plane.

Gilbert had been wisely avoiding me for the past few weeks. It might have to something to do with me threatening his life every single time I saw him. Elizabeta claimed we were acting childish but who cares what she thought.

Feliciano frowned with disappointment. "That's sad. You two could have had an on flight romance. You know, like the ones written in romance novels."

Feliciano read romance novels because he had issues; he claimed he had to because of his research because he was a relationship therapist, but no man should read that crap. Not even the gay ones! I was onto him; there was another hidden agenda and one day I would find out.

We were at my job, Greta's Cafe. Elizabeta's ex fiancé, Roderich, used to own this place but he gave it to Liz after they ended the engagement- I knew there was another side of the story but Liz remained tight lipped; I vowed to pry it out of her one day. Anyway, I was behind the corner cleaning the shelves because I had nothing else to do, and Feli was sitting at one of the tables close to the counters drinking latte and eating a sandwich. He always came here during his lunch break.

It was unusually empty at this time. Normally this place was swamped with people during the breakfast and lunch hours. Not that I was complaining. The morning rush was a pain in my ass and it didn't help that that idiot, Francis, decided not to show up at his shift.

He was officially on my hit list.

"You're obsession with romance novels aren't healthy. You'll develop some mental disorder if you keep on reading that trash."

Feli was of course offended because he was the most sensitive person I had ever met. He sat up in his seat and drank some of his latte. "You should read one, fratello; it can open your eyes to so many things. Hey, it can even be a stress reliever for you. God knows you need one."

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

I, Romano Lovino Vargas, was not stressed. My blood pressure only skyrocketed when I was surrounded by annoying, stupid people, thank you very much.

"It seems that your stress levels have been exceeding normal levels for the past year," Feli answered in his therapist voice. I was not a damn patient, damn it. See this was one of the downsides of living with people who knew psychology; they always wanted to psychoanalyze you ever single time you turned around. "Ludwig says that it may have to do with your problem with expressing your emotions."

Lud- potato bastard needed to learn how to mind his own damn business. And Feli needed to learn how to stop telling the bastard about my problems.

"Does it look like I give a damn what the potato bastard thinks?"

"Fratello, that's not nice..."

The potato bastard- I used to call him "German bastard" but Feliciano claimed it wasn't politically correct- worked with Feliciano at this big therapist clinic- I had no idea what it was called- downtown. Feliciano thought he was the most amazing person to walk on the face on the planet while I wished he would drop off the face of the planet. Feli worshipped the ground the potato bastard walked on.

Ludwig said this, Ludwig said that…

I didn't know what was so special about the potato bastard. Yeah, he went to University of Chicago, had a billion degrees and a doctorate and ran things at Feli's job and hired Feli- damn it, I needed to stop listing things. But if you asked me, he should be the last person trying to figure out what was wrong with people's minds. He had an emotional capacity of a robot and thought that military boot camp was the answer to everyone's life problems. If anyone needed to see someone, it should be him.

And to make things worse, he was also the Gilbert's younger brother.

I ignored Feli as he finished his latte. I didn't need his opinion; there was nothing wrong with me. I looked around the café to find something interesting but as usual, I was out of luck.

There were two patrons sitting next to the window, Yao and Kiku. They were always here every day from noon to one. I was not sure if they were friends but each time they were always to outsmart each other with a random board game. Liz claimed there were lovers but she thought if two people looked at each other they were in love so that didn't count.

And then there was this other guy- I had no idea what his name was. The guy never talked. All I knew was that he was obsessed with pancakes and maple syrup and he was from Canada. He always sat at the far corner where no one could see him. Francis wanted to _you know _him, but then again Francis wanted to screw everyone.

I was finishing up the shelves when another daily customer came into Greta's. His name was Arthur and he was from English- and he wouldn't let you forget that. According to him, everyone was a 'git.' He was a writer for the _Sun Times_, had a bad attitude most of the time- and people had the nerve to complain about my personality- and always complained about his coworkers. He ordered the same thing each time- Earl Grey tea with a little cream and biscuits. The only person he seemed to get along with was Elizabeta.

"Hello Arthur," I grumbled, taking out his biscuits then filing up a large cup with hot water. I normally did not regard him but Liz said that I had to be nice to everyone, including annoying Englishmen. "Found a new coworker to hate?"

"In matter of fact I did," Arthur replied not catching my sarcasm. He took a tea bag, the cup and biscuits without saying thanks- no manners. "His name is Alfred, and I regret the day my editor in chief hired him. He's an insufferable git. No respect." He looked around. "This eatery is quiet. It is normally not this way at noon."

"Thank you for stating the obvious," I said and pointed at the drink. "You know the price."

Arthur gave me a mean look before taking money of his wallet. He paused and stared at me. "There is a very interesting video on Youtube," He said as he paid for his tea and put coins into the tip car. He might an ass who thought he was better than everyone, but he gave tip every time so I never complained. "I have to say, seeing you get thrown down by an officer is quite humorous. May I ask what happened?"

"No, but you can leave."

It looked like Arthur wanted to stick his tongue out at me- but he wouldn't because it wasn't 'proper.' Instead he gave me another mean look before waking out of the café. He really needed to do something with his attitude.

Elizabeta finally decided to show up. She had only been on break for the past two hours. "Romano, I did not pay you to scare away my customers!" She shouted as she came out of the back room. She instantly smiled when she saw my brother. "Oh hi Feli, I did not see you there."

Why couldn't she say that to me?

"Hello, Elizabeta. How are you this lovely afternoon?"

"I'm great, thank you. I hope your brother isn't bothering you. He has the tendency to aggravate customers."

"No, he's fine," Feliciano gave me a wide smile. He was so sweet and polite, it made me sick. "We were just talking about that kind flight attendant that saved Romano from getting arrested."

I loved Feliciano, I really did. I mean, he was brother of course I should love him, but there were times when I wished he would disappear or lose his voice. Now, I was not going to hear the end of it from Elizabeta- who also never failed to remind me that I missed a perfect chance to join the Mile High Club on that flight.

"Ah, yes. Antonio, that is his name right?" She said, knowing that she knew his name. She wouldn't stop calling for him during that flight. Liz sat down next to Feli and flashed me a smirk. She should burn in hell right next to Gilbert.

Feli nodded. "I believe so. I just cannot believe he would do that for fratello. That is very gentleman-like of him."

I wanted to bang my head against something, anything.

"He was so nice about it too," Elizabeta said, leaning back on the staring into space as if she was one of those fools in romance movies. I might or might not have wished she would fall back. "And handsome. Really, handsome. Don't you think so, Romano?"

"Go fuck yourself."

I couldn't believe I was going to relive the retelling of the incident on the plane. Didn't people understand how traumatizing that was for me?

I was so mad but I just stared making peace with myself. I was lucky. I was only in a little trouble, probably involved in a video that went viral on the internet- some guy had filmed the entire incident; I had noticed it when I was about to hit the floor with a two hundred and something pound man on top of me. And if the Lord loved me as much as everyone claimed, I would never see the flight attendant for the rest of my days.

"Did you ever thank him for saving your behind?" Elizabeta asked, knowing damn well what the answer was- or maybe she didn't. She has conveniently found her way into the plane's bathroom while I got hauled onto the ground and intimidated by a man who was twice my size and had a gun.

And Arthur confirmed my fears that some asshole taped it and posted it on YouTube.

I knew I should have beat up the man with the camera when I had the chance.

"No."

Feliciano and Elizabeta exchanged looks. Well, they weren't very happy but honestly, what did they expect? It wasn't like I had the chance to thank the guy. The feds were after me and the mean flight attendant lady would not stop sending me death stares.

"That's a shame," Feliciano said, shaking his head.

"Oh I have an idea, why don't you invite him here?" Elizabeta asked. I was positive that she was born to specially make my life a living hell. "I'll give him a free meal for saving you and providing world-class entertainment while waiting for a plane take off."

"How about no?"

"Fratello," Feli said. "That's very ungrateful of you, and I think it is a cute idea."

"You think everything is cute," I snapped. "You're suggesting that we stalk a flight attendant and bring him here- why?"

"Because we, well you, need to properly thank him for what he did."

Wait a second. Antonio was a flight attendant and flight attendants traveled around all the time. This meant that he was not from Chicago and the chances of ever seeing him again outside of an airplane- which I vowed to never go on again- were slim to none.

I smirked at the two fools. I was about to rain on their parade. "There's a problem," I said. "He's not from Chicago-"

"Actually he is."

_What?_

No!

"What do you mean he is from Chicago?"

This was a joke. This was a horrible joke. Elizabeta only said that to get back at me scaring her customers away- to tell you the truth, she was much better at that then I was.

"Well you know my detective friend, right? I just happened to see her at the laundry and I couldn't help but tell her your story." Of course she couldn't. "And she said that she had a friend who had a friend who knew him. Apparently, she had heard the same story from her friend," Elizabeta said smugly. "You must have left one hell of an impression on Antonio. Anyway, she told me that he lived in Roger's Park. Right off the Granville L stop. And I used to be really close to him, but you know, his job is very demanding so I haven't been able to see him for a while..."

"Are you talking about your creepy friend, Natalya?"

"She's not a creep," Elizabeta insisted. She was always defending someone. "She just has interesting uh, viewpoint of her brother."

Interesting my ass. She was obsessively in love with him.

Feliciano could not stop smiling. He knew Liz got me. He clapped. "Well then, I don't see any reason why fratello cannot give Antonio a thank you dinner. What do you think, Elizabeta?"

Liz nodded in agreement. "I think it's a terrific idea. Romano, I don't know what the problem is. I'm not asking you to go on a fancy date with him. Just give him some thanks. Is that too hard?"

I groaned. Liz and Feli had a point. He did save my ass, and he didn't have to do that. We didn't even know each other. But I couldn't just go up and ask him. I hadn't seen in a few weeks; he probably forgot I even existed. Why would he remember me? Beside the whole kissing thing. I wasn't anyone special. I worked in a damn cafe/mini restaurant. I was related and friends with freaks.

This felt like another dare.

"Fine, I would do it but you're taking the tab."

Elizabeta and Feli smiled.

I cursed them both as I rushed to serve an incoming customer.

**Antonio, as well as other people, will come in the next chapter. The next update will probably not come for several days. I have to unfortunately get back to halfway across the country and start another semester of college. Thanks a ton for everything and I hope you enjoyed it! And as always, tell me what you think! Or have any ideas :D**


	3. Chapter 3

**Three Weeks Ago...**

"I honestly don't understand why people can't listen to simple information. We've been telling them for the past _hour_ that we will leave momentarily. Asking us every five seconds isn't going to make the plane take off any faster."

"Maria, they're only anxious to get in the air. You will feel the same way if you were a passenger."

"I know, but still. We're just as pissed off as they are. I don't even think I'll be able to go back to Monaco any time soon," Maria said, crossing her arms and giving me a sad look. "By the time we arrive in New York, the other flight to Europe will be over the Atlantic already."

"You can always book another flight."

Maria gave a look. "Not even worth it, I'm going to miss the poker tournament if I take a later flight. It's okay though. It's a sign that I shouldn't be spending any more money."

I sighed as Maria went on her tirade. It was just one of those days when everything went wrong. Almost all departing flights were experiencing major delays thanks to a fire at one of the airports in Indiana. Many of the jumbo jets and the 747's from that airport were redirecting to O'Hare. This caused major backup on the runway, but the air traffic controllers assured everyone that the delays would only be ten to twenty minutes, _not_ an hour.

The air traffic controllers were losing their minds; the pilots were irritated and when the pilots were irritated that meant everyone on the plane, including us poor flight attendants, were on the edge. The passengers were becoming more frustrated by the minute. I couldn't remember how many times I had to tell a passenger that we would let him or her know when we were ready to take off.

Today was supposed to be my day off, but Feliks contacted some stomach virus last night- it was probably from the deep-fried meal he had that I warned him about- and Katsuya insisted that I was the only person who could keep an eye on Maria and make sure she didn't punch a passenger.

I did not know why Maria wanted to be a flight attendant, of all things. She was one of the most impatient people I had ever known, and she could not stand people who couldn't stop complaining- most people couldn't, but she made it more obvious than acceptable.

I reached out for a tomato in one of the containers near the cabinets. I wasn't really allowed to eat the passengers' food, but many people didn't enjoy the loveliness that was tomatoes, so I could steal a few without anyone noticing-

Damn, Maria caught me.

"Antonio Fernandez Carriedo, how many times do I have to tell you that the tomatoes are for the first class passengers, not your stomach?"

I grinned sheepishly at Maria as I finished my last- I swore it would be- tomato. I normally did not raid the snack cabinets in flight, but I only had a piece of toast for breakfast- at seven am. It was nearly one in the afternoon now. "Oh Maria, Lo siento, I couldn't help myself."

"Sure, you can't," she snapped. Maria was not in the best of moods, not that I could blame her. There wasn't much to do when your plane had been delayed for the past half hour. "Where's Katy?"

"She's speaking with Ivan," I said looking at the box of tomatoes, sitting on one of the counters, waiting for me to devour, but alas, I could not do what I wanted. I would not hear the end of it from Maria who, without a doubt, would tell Katsuya, who would give me a lecture about eating on the job.

To be honest, I didn't know why we were serving tomatoes in the first place. This wasn't a transatlantic flight; we were going halfway across the country- a less than two hour flight. No one was going to eat all of the tomatoes- so I was doing everyone, including the environment, a favor by eating them myself.

Katsuya, who just came out of the cockpit, did not agree with me. She shook her head before saying, "Antonio, stop eating all of the tomatoes."

"I only had three. Three!"

"You had five," Maria corrected, ignoring my glare. She didn't have to tell the truth.

"You can eat once we get in the air," Katsuya said while she began placing the snacks onto the cart; Maria and I started doing the same. "For now, make sure that the passengers do not become too restless. You know how they get." She paused. "According to Ivan, it does not look like we're taking off anytime soon."

"Define anytime soon."

I looked back at the passengers; they were becoming annoyed. I couldn't blame them; this plane was supposed to be in the air right now, flying over Lake Michigan, not on the tarmac.

"How long is the delay?" I asked, fearing the answer.

Katsyua let out a deep breath. This wasn't a good thing. "Thirty minutes; if we are lucky, twenty-five."

"Are you kidding me?" Maria almost shouted, throwing her hands up. "What's the hold up?"

"Maria, it's the fire."

"Antonio's right." Katsuya paused. "As all you all may know, Toris was schedule to work on this flight with us, but for a reason that I really don't want to explain, he can't make the flight," she said, nodding at our groans. "I know, I know, it sucks. But we get to split Toris' pay between the three of us. More money to spend in New York."

Katsuya gave us a small smile before continuing, "So here's the plan: I am going to deal with the passengers in first class; they aren't many of them, so I can handle it myself. You two can tend to the business and coach; I know there are over two hundred passengers on this plane, but it's only a two hour flight; it shouldn't be that bad. Oh and Maria, make sure no one joins the Mile High Club. You do remember what happened last time, don't you?"

Last week, during the flight to Los Angeles, three people from first class attempted to have a threesome in the bathroom. Maria and I was so- confused and stunned- that we just stared at the shuddering bathroom door in awe; we waited until the trio finished to drag them out and give them a warning. Gracias a Dios, only a few passengers noticed.

It seemed that interesting events always happened when I worked with Maria and Katsuya.

"I don't see the appeal of hooking up in the bathroom," Maria commented in a low voice; she didn't want the passengers to have the conversation. "It's _so_ small; how can two people squeeze in there? Let alone three."

"You have thought a lot about that, haven't you?"

Maria stuck her tongue at me. "Look, I, never in a million years, thought people would try to have a threesome in a freaking plane bathroom. Never."

Katsuya chuckled as she went into the first class cabin.

Maria nugded me with her elbow. "That guy is getting on my nerves."

"Who?"

"The one in row ten, in the aisle seat. He's been giving women lewd looks ever since he's gotten on this plane. And he would not stop pointing at us."

I looked at aisle ten. There were only three people sitting on the left side. One woman was reading a magazine and glaring at the red eyed man at the same time. And there was another man sitting between them scowling and also arguing with the red eyed one.

I smiled to myself. He was so adorable even with a scowl on his face. And handsome. Very handsome. Extremely handsome. I wondered if-

"Antonio, hello?" Maria waved her hand in front of my face. "Are you even paying attention to me?"

I shook my head, just realizing that I might have been staring at the scowling cute man for almost a minute. I smiled at Maria and replied, "Of course I am. Just something caught my eye, that's all. Are you talking about the brunet?"

Maria mumbled something under her breath that I couldn't catch.

"No, the one with the white hair and red eyes," Maria scoffed as she placed some soda cans on the cart. "Who wears red contacts?"

"I have a feeling that they are real..."

Before Maria could reply, Katsuya came rushing from first class. She looked alarm, but relieved. Oh yes, that meant we were about to takeoff soon.

Katsuya grabbed the microphone and said, in her professional flight attendant voice, "We apologize for the inconvenience, but due to intense traffic, we will not able to take off for another fifteen minutes."

Of course.

It felt like the entire plane groaned.

Maria and I gave each other looks before returning to fixing up the food carts. To appease the passengers, we planned to distribute the snacks and drinks the moment the plane went into cruising, with significant discounts.

I was just about finished with cart number one when I noticed the same wonderful scowling man from aisle ten walk up to Maria and I.

Maria gave him a dirty look as I looked at him with curiosity.

"How can I help you?" I asked, trying and failing not to look at him up and down. But it was so hard; he was the most beautiful man I had ever seen, even though he looked irritated.

It didn't appear that he noticed; gracias a Dios.

"Can I speak you about something?"

I beamed at him. He wanted to speak to me; I didn't know why and I frankly didn't care. The fact that he came up to him and requested a conversation while Maria glared daggers into him was good enough for me.

Unfortunately, Maria was not having- whatever this was. She came from behind the food carts, walked up to the beautiful brown eyed man, frowning. "Sir, we will go into taxi soon. Please sit down and fasten your seat belt. We will let you know when it is safe for you to get out of your seat."

"No, don't worry about it, Maria. This gentleman wants to quickly talk to me, si?"

"Y-yes."

Maria narrowed her eyes; she knew he was up to something, I could tell by the way she looked at him. She gave me one last warning glance before walking down the aisle to tend to the other passengers.

The man fidgeted in his spot. He looked nervous, as if he didn't even want to speak to me. After a few moments of looking at everyone except at me, he quietly asked, "Your name is Antonio, right?"

I blinked. How he did know my name? I looked down and blushed. Oh right, my name tag. My name was on my name tag.

I leaned against the snack cart, making sure I didn't put on much pressure. The last thing I needed was the fall back thanks to a rolling cart in front of a very attractive passenger. I smirked at him, winked and said in Spanish, "Si, me llamo Antonio Carriedo."

So he couldn't tell that I was trying to flirt of him, ah well.

"That's nice," The man said quickly, daring not to match my gaze. "Look, don't take this the wrong way. I'm only doing this because of a dumbass dare. Don't sue me."

Wait- why was he asking me not to sue him? What was going on?

"W-what-?"

There was no room for explanation, not with the determined look in the man's face. My eyes widened in shock as the man stepped up to me, cupped his nice, soft hands on both of cheeks and pulled me in for a kiss.

Was this man amazing or what?

"Someone stop him!" I heard Maria shout out before a man, who was built like a rugby player, leaped out of his seat, quickly flash his badge- yes, nice, he was a federal agent, grabbed the man and pull him back, before tackling him onto the floor.

Did that just happen?

I heard a loud 'ooh' come from some of the passengers. Nice, of course things would turn into chaos minutes before we were scheduled to take off. Now, I had less than ten minutes to make sure everything went back to normal before Ivan threw a fit.

But- I didn't know what to do. The man was being held down by the agent, Maria and Katsuya were running to me from different directions. The plane was silent, except for a couple of chuckles from one of the aisles near the wing- I suspected they were with him.

"Oh my god, Antonio," Katsuya said, holding me from behind, as if trying to shield me from the wrestling match that was taking place on the floor. I had to admit, for a small man, he was putting up a good fight against the agent, but he was no match.

"I'm fine," I said, watching the agent pull out his handcuffs, while still holding the man down. I slightly frowned; I didn't want him to get arrested. He only kissed me because of a dare. How sad, I wanted him to kiss me because he wanted to- unfortunately, we all couldn't get what we wanted.

"You're arresting him?"

Maria, Katsuya and the federal agent looked at me as if I just asked the dumbest question in the universe. It was a very good question, thank you. The federal agent looked down at his victim and said, in a 'duh' voice, "Of course I am. He attacked you; that counts as harassment."

Oh right, there were laws about that.

The poor man attempted to get up but all attempts were vain. I frowned, feeling bad. He didn't have to go through all of this. All he did was give me a kiss, not try to rape me. I gave the man a small, assuring smile. Have no fear, my sweet little one; I would make things much better.

I approached the federal agent. He was even more intimidating in person. I didn't want the man to get off the plane; that would only delay the flight even more and I would like to know his name before we reached New York- just in case, you know, he wanted to kiss me again, without being dared.

"Sir, there is no need to arrest him," I said, smiling down at the man who just gave me the most confused look. "It's alright. Everything is fine. He didn't hurt me."

"Antonio, this is sexual harassment. Passengers can't do that!" Maria said, glaring at the man who was still beneath the agent, flailing and cursing in… Italian? Maria stepped closer to me and rubbed my shoulders. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine, really. I was only shocked," I looked down at the man, who was now glaring daggers at me. "I didn't expect my boyfriend to surprise me like that. I didn't even know he was on this flight."

The man, as well as everyone else, gaped at me.

I shrugged; surprised that everyone believed my lie. Well, I might as I well go with it.

The federal agent didn't look convinced; he glanced down at the man then back up at me. "Are you telling me that this man," He leaned down and asked, "What is your name?"

"R- Romano," the man choked out.

"Are you telling me that you and Romano are lovers?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying," I replied smiling. I pointed at Romano. "Now, if you don't mind, can you get off him?"

I could have sworn Maria and Katsuya's and Romano's jaws dropped.

The agent looked down at Romano and asked in a rough, mean voice, "Is this true?"

"Y-yes…"

I clapped as I witnessed the agent finally get off of Romano. I rushed to help the man up; he tried to resist any aid at first, but comply after a while. I looked into his eyes and said, smiling. "Now, honey, just for the record, you can't kiss me while I am on duty, si? Okay, now can you please return to your seat? We will be in the air in no time."

Romano blinked, nodded and silently went back to his seat.

Katsuya and Maria would not stop giving me confused looks. Of course they would, I just did something that I had never done. I didn't even know Romano, yet I saved him from being thrown off the plane. I quietly went to them and before I could say anything else, Katsuya spoke up.

"You haven't seen him before today, haven't you?"

I shook my head.

Maria snorted. "That must've been some kiss. I had never seen anyone get someone out of an arrest before."

"Yes it was," I said dreamily as I looked back at aisle ten. I couldn't see my Romanito's face. "And there is a first for everything."

Maria snorted.

Katsuya chuckled. "As entertaining as that was, we need to get ready for takeoff. Antonio, do the normal procedure and Maria, put the carts back to their respective places until we're cruising. I'll be in first class," and with that she left.

"We don't have to do the safety rules for the third time, do we?" She growled when she realized that I wasn't paying attention and nudged me on the side, hard. "Can you stop making googly eyes at your _boyfriend_ and get back to get the passengers ready for takeoff?" Maria, asked annoyed.

"Of course, Senorita," I said, grinning. "And no, we don't have to. We've done it enough."

We already went over the safety instructions thirty minutes ago when we all thought we could finally get this show on the road. Katsuya mentioned about repeating them again, but Maria, ever the slacker and the one who hated repeating anything, told her it wasn't a big deal and we would do it again once the plane was flying.

Maria rolled her eyes and cursed under her breath. She hated it when I called her that. "Just do your job."

I winked at Maria before walking to the middle of the aisles and announcing, "Can everyone else please turn off all electronics, including cell phones, laptops," I turned to the left to give the man with the camcorder, who was no doubt filling that entire debacle, a sharp look, _"And_ video cameras. We are about to takeoff."

The man got the hint and put his camera away, flashing me a wide 'I wasn't doing anything wrong' smile.

I had a bad feeling that he was going to post whatever he filmed on the internet, but I had more pressing things to deal with, like get everyone ready for takeoff.

And find a way to ask Romano how often was he in Chicago.

**I plan to switch POV's every couple of chapters and maybe do some flashbacks. I'll definitely let you know. Thanks a ton for everything and I hope you enjoyed it! And as always, don't forget to review and tell me what you think! :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**Three Weeks Later…**

"Katia," I called out, waving my hand at my friend- her name was Katsuya, but I called her Katia anywhere that wasn't on a plane. She glanced in my direction, smiled and walked towards my table. She was only in Chicago until tomorrow morning. She had to work on a flight from O'Hare to Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow.

We were meeting up at one of the cafes downtown. I hadn't seen her in a week, and I was already getting a Katsuya withdraw. There was only time I could spend with Maria and Natalya without trying to pull my hair out.

"Hola, Antonio," Katia said, sitting down at to me. "Como estas?"

"Muy bien, y tu?"

"Tambien.. soy buena."

I smiled. "You're Spanish is getting better," I said affectionately. I had been teaching Katia Spanish for over three months; she started working on flights that were going to many South American countries. "Muy bien."

"Muchos gracias, mi amigo," Katia replied proudly. She had a heavy Russian accent, but she sounded better than most people who tried to speak the language. "I cannot thank you enough for teaching me Spanish. Last week, I had to deal with a passenger on the flight to Barcelona who only spoke that language. Toris looked like he was about to have a heart attack when she rambled on about motion sickness. You should offer classes."

"When I retire," I said. "I don't even have enough time to have my own place."

Because of my job, I didn't bother renting out an apartment in the city. I wasn't going to be home most of the time, and I spent more time in hotel rooms than in a home. It was a nice arrangement until I went on to a different career or retire.

"Right... where are you staying now?"

"I'm staying with Natalya; she is nice enough to let me sleep on her couch. Maria is staying with us too, but only for a little while. She is going back to Monaco on Friday."

Katia gulped. "Is that… safe?"

Katia was extremely distrustful of her younger sister, which considering everything, was completely understandable. Natalya was not a bad person; she had a sincere heart. Sure, she had some issues and she still yet to see the therapist her friend, Elizabeta, referred her to, but she was a lot nicer than most people thought. The only issue with her was that she dreamed that one day she would marry her brother, Ivan.

(Of course I had told her numerous times that it was illegal in the States to marry your brother, but she had insisted that if some states could legalized same-sex marriage, then there was a chance that incestuous marriage would follow the same path. I gave up trying to convince her otherwise.)

"Don't worry about it; I'm back on duty next week and Natalya's only charging me twenty bucks for the internet and electricity."

Gracias a Dios por Natalya.

I was back in Chicago for a few days. Feliks had felt bad about me taking his place because he was sick (I told him it wasn't a big deal, but it only caused him to apologize even more) so he insisted that he took one of my longer flight, the one from Seattle to India.

I was so grateful. I didn't mind long flights- I got paid more. and it was nice to go to countries on the other side of the world, but they were stressful, especially when we flew over the water. Many passengers would start to have panic attacks about what would happen if the plane crashed into the ocean.

I had been tempted a few times to tell them that we would all most likely die and get eaten by sharks, just to see their reactions. But I didn't think that would be appropriate.

According to Katsuya, I had a crude sense of humor.

"If you insisted," Katia mumbled as if she thought that me staying with her sister was a horrible idea. "Anything interesting going on with your life?"

Ah Dios mios, how could I forget?

I nodded and dug into my jeans pocket. I couldn't believe I forgot to tell one of my closest friends about my surprise. I handed Katia a crumbled piece of paper, and said before she could question anything. "Guess who called me this morning."

Katia raised an eyebrow and looked down at the paper. "Do I even want to know?"

"Read it."

Katina spread the paper out on the table and began to read, "It's a number and an address to a café. Oh, it's the Greta Café. I've been there a few times- makes wonderful lattes," She paused then looked at me, "I'm confused… where are you going with this?

My smile became ever wider. I was so excited. "You remember the passenger on Flight 349 to LaGuardia- the one who kissed me because of a dare?"

Katia blinked and her eyes when she realized whom I was talking about. She gasped in disbelief. "You can't be serious. You have his _number_?"

"Yes, I do," I replied. I didn't think I could smile even more. "He invited me to a 'thank you' dinner at Greta's. Apparently, saving him from being arrested was a big deal."

I couldn't explain my shock and my joy when Romano left me a message this morning about the dinner. I had thought I was hallucinating. After three long weeks, he had finally called me. (I wondered how he managed to get my number, but I would ask about that during our date.) I had feared that Romano would forget me; after all, he hadn't even attempted to look my way for the rest of the flight back to New York.

"I'll say…" Katia trailed off. "I can't believe this. He still remembers you?" She slightly frowned. "What if this is all a cruel prank? He pulled one on the plane."

"It was a dare."

"Same thing."

"Katia, it's a dinner, in a café that I've been to before." I shrugged. "Natalya knows the owner, and I used to be really good friends with her. She says that she's perfectly fine. Anyway, you've seen Roma, he's not the type of person that would trick someone."

"Only you would say that about a guy you've met on a routine flight," Katia muttered then gave me a confused look. "Roma? I thought his name was Romano."

"It is, but I decided to give him a nickname."

Katia rolled her eyes. She thought that my interest in Romano was borderline insane. I told her that it was love at first sight; she claimed that the only reason why I even wanted to see him again was to see if he wouldn't mind laying with a man- which, she had a point. But it was much more than that, I swear.

"Does Maria know about this?"

I slightly groaned. Of course she did, and of course she was completely against the entire thing. She told me that I had to move on and get on with my life. I didn't get it; I was getting a free meal. How could I decline a free dinner?

Katia rolled her eyes against at my answer. Well, she was taking the news much better than Maria; that was a good sign. "When is this thank you dinner?"

"Tonight," I replied, beaming with happiness and excitement. I couldn't wait to see mi tomatito again. I hope the scenery at Greta's was romantic- it would be like a date without actually being a date. "At eight."

Eight pm couldn't come any faster.

* * *

I arrived at Greta's Cafe ten minutes before eight pm. Maria had planned to come with me, just as a moral support and a bodyguard just in case Romano tried to do something (I told her that I was perfectly capable of taking care of myself, but she only rolled her eyes in response), but Natalya convinced her to go to some party downtown. I wanted to arrive early. This was our first date- well, not really, but I would like to think so in my mind- and it would be awfully rude to show up late.

I had decided to bring him some flowers, just to show my gratitude.

As soon as I walked in, a blonde man came out of nowhere, rushing to the door and almost bumping into one of the customer's causing the customer's drink to fall on the floor. He apologized to the man with the bushy eyebrows, offered him a new drink and continued to approach me.

I didn't know what to do. Should I say hello? He looked like he was running towards someone he had not seen in while, which was interesting because-

Oh, wait, I remember him. He was one of the waiters Katsuya warned me about.

"Bonjour mon cher," The man said, stopping only a few inches from me. He was smirking. "Comment allez-vous?"

"Tres bien," I replied. I didn't know if he spoke English at all. Maria claimed that he only knew how to say a few words.

"Vous parlez francais? Bravo!" He spread his arms and gave me a bone crushing hug, only to frown deeply when I managed to get out of it.

"Francis, we're in America; speak English!"

"Je suis tres desole," He leaned in and whispered, "Mon patron est tres stricte. Elle n'aime pas quand nous ne parlons pas en l'anglais."

I recognized that voice from anywhere. I laughed. I had not been able to see Elizabeta for a few months thanks to conflicting schedules, but I could tell she hadn't changed one bit. Francis muttered "merde" under his breath as Elizabeta marched out of the back room with a mean scowl on her face. She walked in Francis' direction until she saw me. Her scowl turned into a wide smile. "Antonio, it's been so long!"

"Hello, Isabella."

Elizabeta jokingly glared me and gave me a hug. She hated when I called her the Spanish version of her real name, but she claimed that she stopped worrying about what I called her. I used to refer to her as Bella, but instantly ceased when Elizabeta gave me a long, vicious rant about how she shouldn't be named after a pathetic character from a pathetic book about sparkling vampires and werewolves.

I didn't dare tell her that the character's full name was Isabella.

She refused to call the book Twilight; she believed that it was so bad that it didn't deserve to have a title. To be honest, I didn't think she hated Twilight as much as she claimed. She agreed to go with Katia to see the last movie without any hesitation.

"I apologize for Francis' behavior. He thinks people would gladly strip off their clothes once he speaks French."

I glanced back at Francis who was dealing with an Asian man. The customer seemed annoyed but that was most likely because Francis was knowingly invaded his personal space. I had to give it up to him; he was persistent. He turned around and gave Elizabeta a mean look thanks to her comment.

"Je m'appelle Francois, ne pas Francis!"

Elizabeta rolled her eyes at her employee's outburst. I had to give her some credit. I didn't think I could run a small business as well as she could. "Whatever," she turned her attention to me. "I'm so glad to see you. Romano will be out soon. He's finishing up your dinner?"

"He knows how to cook?"

"Oh yes," Elizabeta replied with a wink. She must have noticed my enthusiasm. "He is amazing at making authentic Italian food."

I smiled to myself. This was wonderful news. Oh, I could see it now- Romano making a nice Italian dish on a nice, warm summer day. I would feed him some nice freshly grown tomatoes while whispering sweet nothing into his eyes.

Just as Elizabeta began explaining the type of dishes Romano could make and how he could invest in going to a culinary arts school, the object of my desires and dreams emerged from the back room. He looked annoyed, but I had a feeling he was always annoyed and scowling. I would do anything to make him turn frown upside down and present me a wide, breath-taking smile. He looked like he could give beautiful smiles.

Romano stopped walking when he saw me standing, smiling as if I had finally saw an angel. He gave Elizabeta a slight glare and muttered, without conveying any emotion, "Oh great, it's you."

I frowned a bit. I wasn't expecting Romano to welcome me with mounds of kisses- one could only dream, but I wished he looked a bit less... solemn. I put my flowers down on the table. Maybe Maria was right; maybe, as usual, I made a big deal out of everything.

Elizabeta wasn't having it with his attitude. She narrowed her eyes and asked, in very stern voice, "Romano, what is up with your manners?"

Romano gave her a look before walking to where I assumed we would be having our dinner, placing two covered dishes on the table. I hoped we would be eating together. I followed him, pushed out a chair for him and a chair for me and sat down. I watched in confusion as Romano just stared at his chair as if- I didn't know how to explain it.

Ah, now I understood. He had never done this before. No matter, I could definitely help him out. I should start with some small talk. Romano didn't seem like he was a talker, unlike me who had been told many times by many people that I could talk someone's ear off. I folded my hands and asked, "And how are you?"

Romano froze and gaped at me, as if he didn't know how to reply. I felt bad. I didn't mean to startle him. I was only asking a simple question. Romano blinked then glanced back at Elizabeta who was shaking her head in disapproval. He cleared his throat and answered in a low voice, "_Fine_."

This was good start. I was beginning to realize that Romano was not one to express his feelings- which was fine. We could balance each other's personalities out.

"I cannot thank you enough for this dinner," I said gratefully. There was nothing like being treated to a dinner, especially by someone who was as wonderful and beautiful as Romano. "This has made my day."

Romano froze again, but only for a short time. He looked at me and frowned. "Don't get used it," he snapped, placing the wine bottle on the table- all we needed was to dim the lights, have some candles and it would be romantic. "I'm only doing this because Liz says it's the right thing to do."

Behind him, I could see Elizabeta slapping her forehead and cursing under her breath.

I beamed up at him. This must be completely new for him. It appeared that he wasn't the type of ask people on dates- rather, thank you dinners. It was okay. I could teach him everything about the art of dates if he let me.

**Not much going on, but don't worry. Things will start heating up next chapter… somehow. Thanks a ton for everything and I hope you enjoyed it! And as always, don't forget to review and tell me what you think! :D**

**Here's the translations for some of the phrases. I warn you, I haven't taken Spanish and French in a couple of years, so if there is any mistakes, please let me know and I will fix it. **

**Como estas: How are you?**

**Muy bien, y tu?: very good, and you?**

**Tambien… soy bueno. I'm good too.**

**Comment allez-vous?: how are you?**

**Vous parlez francais!: You speak French.**

**Je suis tres desole. Vous voyez, mon patron est tres stricte. Elle n'aime pas quand nous ne parlons pas en l'anglais: I'm very sorry. You see, my boss is very strict. She doesn't like when we don't speak English. **

**Merde: shit**

**Gracias a Dios por Natalya: Thank God for Natalya **


	5. Chapter 5

I swore to God that the only reason why I'd agreed to this dinner thing (Liz insisted that I called it a date, but I refused to call it that. I had no interest in Antonio; I didn't care what anyone, including myself, said) was because Liz had literally threatened me with my job. After I had refused to call Antonio even though I'd promised that I would, Liz threw a fit and yeah, that was why I was here instead of home, listening to Feli swoon over the potato bastard and pasta.

It had nothing to do with the fact that I wanted to see the asshole again or the fact that he looked sort of, kind of, a tad bit attractive and his accent made my knees weak. No, because then I would sound like a lovesick school girl, and Romano Lovino Vargas was not a lovesick school girl.

I swore it had nothing to do with the fact that I had been feeling a bit lonely lately- no, that wasn't the right word. I had friends and I unfortunately lived with my twin so I was consistently surrounded by people who didn't mind my presence that much and believed that my "bad" attitude was only a part of my personality. But still, the last time I was in any kind of relationship was back in high school and let's just say, it could've ended a lot better.

Anyway, like I said before, that was only one reason why I was sharing chicken francese with the flight attendant, who saved my ass from being arrested and listening to him talk about how happy he was to see me (he was either insane or delusional, or maybe be both) and how he wanted to take me all over the world.

(I had told him numerous times that I was afraid of planes and therefore could not accompany him to his trips around the world. Of course he claimed that he knew various ways to help me get over my fear- and I had a feeling that these ways had something to do with sex.)

"Have you ever been to Bora Bora?" the tomato bastard (this was my new nickname for him thanks to his creepy-as-hell obsession with tomatoes; damn, I thought I was bad) asked.

I didn't think I had even heard of that place; I was never good at geography. I finished the rest of my wine and replied, "No. I haven't."

Antonio nodded and cut a piece of the chicken. He aimed the fork at my mouth. I glared at him; he wasn't going to feed me again. It was too fucking embarrassing. So what if we were the only people in the café? (Everyone had left about an hour ago. Liz, thankfully, had decided to push back the closing time to nine instead of eleven and I had to close.) I wasn't a fucking baby.

Antonio didn't look offended; he shrugged before eating the chicken. He let out a very satisfied moan and no, it didn't affected me in a anyway. I wasn't a hormonal teenager. "It's one of the most beautiful places in the world," he said. "It has the whitest beaches and the bluest waters."

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked, trying not to think about leaning in to lick off the juice off his- damn it, Romano, what the fuck is wrong with you? I sat up in my seat, waiting for the tomato bastard to stop making love to the chicken (I couldn't blame him. If there was one thing I was good it, it was making amazing food) and answer my question.

"I vow to take you there."

I rolled my eyes. I had a horrible feeling that the tomato bastard thought our little rendezvous was going to continue after today and last until the end of time. "_Why_?"

"Because everyone should go there, at least once. The next time I have to work on a flight headed to Oceania, you should come, si? I'll let you know a couple of weeks beforehand so Isabella won't kill you for taking off in a short notice."

I gaped at him. "What? But-"

He smiled at me and held both my hands. "Do not worry about the costs. We flight attendants get many discounts. You should definitely consider the offer. You need a vacation."

"Yeah, whatever."

There was no point in trying to argue with the Antonio about this. From the two hours I'd known him, I had learned that he was a freak, in multiple sense of the word, loved my cooking, thought it was destiny that I was dared to kiss him on the plane and was persistent as hell.

"This dish is simply amazing," Antonio commented, finishing the last of the food. For a second, I thought he was going to lick the plate clean. I tried not to flash him a triumphant smile. "You have a gift, Roma. Have you ever thought about attending a culinary arts school? You would be terrific there."

I stared at him. This man and his compliments; it should get on my nerves but it only made me feel… appreciated. Ugh, his dinner needed to end soon, but Liz said that I had to wait until the unofficial café closing time before I was allowed to kick Antonio out.

"Just hurry up and finish. I have to close soon."

"Do you have dessert?"

I scoffed. That ungrateful asshole. I just cooked for him; he should be lucky that I did that much. "You're only here for a free dinner. I didn't say anything about dessert."

"It doesn't necessarily have to involve food," Antonio replied with a sly smirk.

That pervert. I should kick his ass for even suggesting that. Instead of acting out on my wishes, I glared at him, pushed back my chair and stood up, watching the tomato bastard's expression change to worry, as if he thought that he'd done something wrong.

"I apologize, Roma, I've been told that I speak without thinking," He said, getting up from his seat and helping me clean off the table. "Thank you so much for the dinner."

I scoffed grabbing both of our plates and placing it on the counter. I would clean those later. "Stop thanking me, damn it. I've heard it enough tonight."

Oh fuck my life… I just remembered that I had to open on the café tomorrow and pretty much be at this place until closing time. I should really kill Liz for taking on more catering customers than we could realistically do in a short amount of time. I wasn't going to have any decent amount of sleep until the end of next week.

"Do you have a lighter?"

Antonio stopped cleaning off the table-cloth and blinked at me and as if he couldn't understand my question.

I sighed. I shouldn't smoke, especially in this café. Like Feli had mentioned far too many times, cigarettes were death sticks; it damaged my lungs and shit, but it had been a stressful past few days (I might have unfairly taken some of my aggravation out on the tomato bastard). Liz had been working our butts off; we had five catering gigs in the span of one week and of course, three of them included serving more than one hundred people. (I had told Liz that we worked in a small café, not a restaurant. We didn't have enough people to serve at the events; she had brushed off all of my concerns and promised me a very generous bonus.)

Antonio, after staring at me for about a minute, finally shook his head; he was so weird. "Lo siento, mi amor, I do not. You should not smoke; it's not good for you."

"I know that!"

I heard enough about the consequences of smoking from my brother; I didn't need to hear it again from the tomato bastard.

Antonio sighed and rubbed his hands together. He gave me a concerned look and took a step forward, "Roma, what's wrong? Was the da- dinner horrible? I'm so sorry if I've done anything wrong."

"Shut up," I snapped. How did he know I wasn't being myself? Everyone always said that I was good at hiding everything and replacing it with anger and annoyance. I just met him. This wasn't good, no, not at all. "You didn't do anything, but you are starting to annoy the hell out of me."

"Roma, you're not a good liar…"

"Didn't I tell you to stop talking?"

What did he know anyway? He didn't know me. I glared at him. Just who did he think he was? Calling me a horrible liar? I knew how to lie pretty damn well. Lied to people all the time, mostly to shut them up and leave me alone. I hated when people constantly asked me how I was feeling and crap. If I wanted to tell them how I felt, I would.

Much to my disdain, it seemed that Antonio was immune to my glare. He was still looking at me with concern, and it scared me to death and it wasn't fake concern. He took another step, leaving only a few minutes between us. He cupped my face with his hands and rubbed it affectionately.

I blinked, not knowing what the fuck was going on. I was going to push him away, but Antonio had other plans. He leaned and kissed me, just like that. I froze. Antonio looked into my eyes; no, he didn't look apologetic or anything, which was complete bullshit because he should've asked me to kiss before actually going for it.

"Is this okay?" He quietly asked against my lips.

I wanted to say no, I really did. God damn it. I cursed under my breath, grabbed the tomato bastard's shoulders and brushed my lips along his. I pressed against him even more as Antonio jolted in surprise. He mumbled something I couldn't catch. I warped my arms around him and deepened the kiss. It didn't last as long as I wanted.

I refused to look at Antonio when he pulled away.

"You are amazing, Roma," he breathed out. "Simply amazing."

"Shut up," I grumbled, still looking at everything but him.

Antonio grabbed my chin, turned my face to him and asks, "Now, will you tell me what's really wrong?"

I frowned and groaned. He wasn't going to stop asking me until I gave him a real answer. I cleared my throat and mutter, "Stop calling me amazing and shit."

"Why?"

"Because it's not true."

Antonio let out a sigh and ran a hand through my hair. He gave me a warm smile. "I think you're too hard on yourself," he said, moving his hand down to my neck. "You should give yourself a break. Live a little and enjoy life."

"Who the hell are you trying to be, a damn philosopher?" I shot back. That was a weak comeback but my mind was too distracted by the fact that Antonio's hand felt fucking _right_ on my skin.

Antonio laughed whole-heartedly. "No, I'm just a flight attendant who is enamored by a former loud mouth yet beautiful passenger." He smiled as my eyes grew wide. "Has anyone told you how beautiful you are?"

I gulped. This was becoming too much. He was too close and fuck, I wanted to pull him in and kiss him again. I should be offended by his remark because damn it, I was a man. I wasn't supposed to be beautiful. That was for women… I think. And no, no one had ever called me beautiful because I would have punched the person in the face.

"No," I replied shuddering as Antonio's hand moved lower; he started to rub my shoulder.

"That's unfortunate." His hands moved back to my neck.

"I frowned. "What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to relieve your stress," Antonio answered, smiling even more. I swore this man was obsessed with smiling. It seemed like it was all that he did. "It looks like it's working."

"Shut up."

This was becoming embarrassing.

"When was the last you've gotten a massage?"

"I never had one."

A massage? Massages were for sissies like Feli who lived at the spa. I didn't need a massage.

Antonio nodded. "You need one, desperately. I can really the knots in your shoulder. Luckily for you, I know someone who's certified."

"Who?"

"Me."

Of course he was. I frowned at him for because this felt like a bad ploy to get into my pants and myself for even considering his offer.

"You know how to give massages?" I asked, not believing the words coming from his mouth. Curse this man for clouding my judgment. Feli and Gilbert (who I was still not talking to) would be laughing their asses off if they were watching this. Gilbert would crack lewd jokes and Feli would be giggling out of happiness- that freak.

Antonio gave me yet another warm smile. Damn him and his smiles. "Of course," he said more excitedly than I would have liked. "Do you want me to prove it to you?"

I blinked then bit my lip as the tomato bastard continued to knead my shoulders with his hands. God, that felt good. No, more than that, it felt fucking _amazing_. "Fine, but we're doing this at my place, just in case you want to do anything freaky so I can kick your ass out."

Antonio nodded and of course tried to blind me with a bright smile. What the hell was wrong with his guy? Normal people didn't smile this much or offer people massages on the first date, unless he had other intentions which I would gladly crush.

I gave him a suspicious look before grabbing the keys off the counter. "You better not be lying to me. I like to kick liars in the balls."

Antonio, trying not to look too amused, nodded again. I didn't know what was funny. My threat was not a joke. "I would never lie to you, my tomatito."

Toma, what? Oh hell no, first it was Roma, which I hated with a fiery passion and now it was _that_?

I scowled at him. "If you call me another name besides Romano again, we won't do anything. Ever."

Antonio, thank goodness, stopped smiling but only for a second. He held both hands over his heart and said dramatically, "Lo siento, my toma- Romano, but you're so adorable. Like a tomato."

I stared at him with disbelief. Why did I always attract the weirdos? Who the hell compared people to tomatoes?

I rolled my eyes and mumbled, "I need to close the café. Just sit down or something. I'll be quick."

Antonio nodded and took a seat.

I gave him one last look before shaking my heading, wondering that the hell did I see in him.

**This chapter literally came out of nowhere. I didn't even think I was going to update for another two weeks, maybe even more. Thankfully and unfortunately, I did eventually get over my writers block but as usual, the illness was only cured during classes, especially the boring ones. **

**I will attempt to update before the month is over but life has been pretty hectic lately, so I can't promise anything. I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks a ton for everything and I hope you enjoyed it! And as always, don't forget to review and tell me what you think! :D**


	6. Chapter 6

I arrived home in record time. And contrary to what the tomato bastard had claimed, it wasn't because I was eager to see just how good he was with his hands. The traffic on Lake Shore Drive was light so I didn't have to resort to taking the local streets and dealing with annoying traffic lights.

And I had to rush home because it was sub-zero outside. Because Chicago's weather was bipolar and did not know what the hell it wanted, the temperature dropped like thirty degrees in a couple of hours. Of course, I had left my coat at home, so I had to walk to my car that was three blocks away with the damn tomato bastard offering me to share his jacket every other second.

That was why I arrived to my apartment in less than fifteen minutes; the _only_ reason why.

I searched through my pockets for my keys, shivering because it was also freezing in the hallway. I glared back at Antonio who seemed not to know what personal space was. I could have sworn he was sniffing my neck- that weirdo.

"Dame spacio!" I grumbled, putting the keys in the lock and turning it. I had thought that maybe if I said it in the bastard's native language, then he would get the point and leave me alone. Of course, it only made things worse.

Antonio placed his hands on my hips (the only reason why I didn't elbow him in the gut was because I was too busy opening the damn door, damn it) and purred into my ear, "Me encanta cuando hablas español."

_Oh God._

"That's nice," I choked out, pushing in the door. I was going to speak English from now on. I peered inside. Yes, Feli wasn't here; he was probably at the potato bastard's house making him tons of pasta. Chances were I wouldn't see him until the morning. That was good; I didn't have to explain him why Antonio was here; he would probably faint.

I kicked my shoes off as soon as Antonio closed the door. "Make sure you take off your shoes. Feli will throw a fit if his _precious_ carpet becomes ruined."

I never understood what the big deal was; the carpet was black. But it looked like Feli had adapted some of the potato bastard's neat freak habits.

Antonio looked around my place; it wasn't anything special. It only had one bedroom, and neighbors who liked to have screaming matches at midnight. He removed his shoes and placed it nearly next to mine. "Who's Feli?"

"My annoying as hell twin brother," I replied, standing there, not knowing what to do next. I wasn't the type to invite people over; that was Feli's job. "So, how are we going to do this?"

Antonio chucked at my impatience. Look, I wanted to massage to be over with.

"And I'm warning you, if you do a horrible job, I will kick you out and you'll have to find your own way back."

"Does that mean if I do a satisfactory job, you will drive me home?" Antonio asked in a hopeful voice, not fazed by the scowl on my face. He smiled. "Have no fear, my tomatito. I will not disappoint."

Again with the ridiculous pet name. There wasn't any point yelling at him about it, was there?

"Do you mind being on the floor? We need a flat surface, and a bed may…" He tried to explain with his hands. _"Imply_ things."

I did not blush. The landlord was going overboard with the heat and my face was heating up from it. And no, I did not think about that would happen if we did the massage on my bed, or the feral smirk the bastard was giving me.

I cleared my throat. "Yeah, whatever. What else?"

"I need a pillow, a few towels and two sheets," he responded, walking into the living room. "Do you have massage oil?"

"Why would I have that?"

Antonio shrugged. He slid the small coffee table to the side to make more room. "Oh, we can use olive oil instead. I know you have that."

He couldn't be serious.

"Of course I do. I'm Italian," I grumbled as I rushed to get the things. I was going to yell at home for- I couldn't recall, but then I realized that I shouldn't be that ungrateful. I was about to receive a massage; a _free_ massage. I returned to the living room a few minutes later and placed everything on the floor.

Antonio clapped before picking up one of the sheets. He folded it in half and placed it on the floor; he placed the second sheet on top. "Please take off your shirt," he said grabbing the olive oil. "Do you mind heating up a bowl of water. I want to warm up the oil a bit."

I glared at him. Why couldn't he ask me before? I threw my shirt on the couch and did what the tomato bastard asked. As soon as I returned, everything was set up. The only things that were missing were candles- not that I wanted them. No ,not at all.

"Muchas gracias," Antonio said, putting the oil bottle in the bowl. He placed it aside and kneeled down next to the makeshift massage mat, rolling up his sleeves. "Lay down on your stomach, por favor. Lean your upper body on the pillow. I don't want you to strain anything."

I did what I was told, wondering why the bastard had not tried anything on me yet, not that I was complaining. It was just weird; he was handsy as hell during the ride home. I looked up at him; he had a serious expression on his face. He rolled the towel and placed it under my ankles.

"Make sure you're relaxed," Antonio whispered, pouring some oil his hands, rubbing them together. He leaned over. "Estás listo?"

"Yeah," I mumbled, lying on the pillow as I tried to get more comfortable. I wondered why Antonio was speaking more Spanish than usual. Surely, he did not know how much my body responded when he spoke in his native tongue- _fuck_.

"Cuanto tiempo…?"

I shuddered as I felt Antonio's hands on my skin, rubbing small circles on my back. "How long for what?"

Antonio drew his hands to my shoulder blades, kneading them gently. He let out a small chuckle when I let out a low gasp. So he knew what he was doing, so what. "How long do you want the massage to last? I can go on all night, if you like."

I buried my face in the pillow trying to hide my blush. I didn't if Antonio was purposely using innuendos, or it was my perverted mind playing tricks on me. "I don't give a damn," I grumbled. "Do an hour."

"If that's what you want, Roma."

"Just get on with it."

I could practically _feel_ Antonio's smirk as he moved his hands down my back. He stopped for a moment. "Relax, Roma. I have this all under control. Just relax and feel, sí?"

I nodded and let out a content sigh as Antonio to move down until his hands reached my hips. My breath hitched; it was a very sensitive spot. He repeated the action again, this time adding more pressure. He moved his hands to my sides and whispered in my ear, "Estás bien?"

I trembled, clenching the pillow tightly. That bastard was doing this on purpose. I gripped the pillow even more as Antonio's hands traveled back to the damn spot. Antonio, the asshole, chucked. "You're sensitive there…" he stated as if he had discovered the cure for some illness.

"No shit-" My grumble turned into a low guttural moan as soon as Antonio pressed harder, sending chill along my back. I was going to kick his ass once this was over; no one could tell me otherwise.

My pillow and my face became well acquainted with each other as Antonio continued his massage. I couldn't believe how fucking _good_ it felt to have his hands graze along my skin. I could feel my body relax and sleep sounded really good- and then the bastard had to stop.

Antonio patted my back, signaling that he was finished. I lifted my head to glare at him. That was it? He was done? It felt like the massage only lasted for five minutes. I glanced at the clock- okay, we were at this for thirty minutes; damn, time passed quickly; it was already one in the morning.

"We still have thirty minutes left," Antonio pointed out, leaning back to get some more oil. "You still want an hour, sí?"

I nodded, wondering why the hell he stopped. I would be a fool to let him stop now. My back muscles felt amazing.

"Very well," Antonio moved in front of me. "Turn on your back, por favor?"

"Why?"

"I want to massage your chest, if you don't mind."

I blinked. Fine, I supposed I had no choice but to admit that there was a _small_ part of me who sort of, kind of wanted him to ask that question. But that- no, no this would be a very bad idea. If I allowed him to do my chest, then I would be facing up, and then I would have no choice but to watch where his hands were going, and _then_ I would watch Antonio watch me- and that couldn't happen. I liked having some part of my resolve left, thank you.

"You're not… serious," I mumbled; yep, I could feel my face was turning into a shade of red again. "You can't just- I don't know- stick to my back?"

Antonio, disappointed, let out a small sigh. "The knots on your back are more or less gone." He snickered as I hid my face into the pillow, embarrassed as hell. "Ah, there is no need to be embarrassed, Lovi," he said.

Lovi? Just name many damn nicknames did the tomato bastard have for me? I knew I shouldn't have told him my full name.

"We're the only ones here."

"Go fuck yourself."

Antonio whole-heartedly laughed then he poured some more on his hands and rubbed them together. Damn, he was really going to do this. Crap, I wasn't ready; my self-control was useless enough as it was. "It would be quick," Antonio insisted, noticing my panic.

Grumbling about pushing tomato bastards, I rolled on my back. Antonio smiled and began to rub my shoulders. We would make eye contact here and there; I gasped as Antonio's hands slowly glided from my shoulders, down my chest. He would stop a few times to rub small holes on my skin.

I couldn't help but stare up at him. It wasn't my fault; he was directly above me, facing the opposite direction. There wasn't enough room to squeeze a pillow between my face and his chest.

Antonio looked down at me, hands stopping right at the waist. "Are you comfortable? Do you want me to move to your side?"

I shook my head. It was a bit odd, having his chest inches above my face, but I didn't mind. He smelled so _good_. God damn it. "Stop asking stupid questions, and get this damn massage over with."

Antonio didn't say anything as he moved his hands back up my chest. "Okay, just wondering. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable. It defeats the whole purpose of receiving a massage."

"I'm fine."

Antonio nodded then moved back. He leaned down and gently kissed me on my neck. I nearly jumped from the sudden sensation. I felt my body relax as he continued to kiss down my neck, his hands continued to massage my upper chest. I craned my neck to the side to give him more access- damn, he was amazing, no phenomenal at this.

I thought about stopping him to tell him that this was not a part of the plan, but it felt so nice and all I wanted to do was-

Oh, fuck it.

I reached up, and his eyes grew wide as I pulled him down. His lips were soft against mine. I held on his hair tightly, groaning deeply when our tongues met, not caring that my neck was starting to strain. Antonio made a small noise against my lips, moving his arms so he wouldn't fall on top of me. I groaned even more into the kiss as I felt Antonio's hands ran down my chest, ever so often kneading along the muscle.

He broke the kiss and moved further over my body. My skin burned as he pressed light kisses along my lower chest, leaning on both elbows to prevent him from falling. I gasped when he kissed harder; he looked down, well up, and let out a chuckle before running his tongue up to my ribs. That bastard was enjoying this just as much as I did. I slightly glared- unfortunately my glares were significantly weakened by Antonio's damned tongue- as Antonio pulled back, not once removing eye contact.

I wanted to kiss him again, but when I reached to pull him into another kiss, Antonio just shook his head and proceeded to sit back up.

I was going to kill him. I was suffering from one of the hardest hard-ons I had ever encountered and-

"I thought you said in the car that I had to be professional," Antonio stated, now drifting his hands to my neck and began massage there. I threw my hand back and moaned; damn, these hands were going to be the death of me. "We can continue this another day, if you like."

I narrowed my eyes at him. He was a bastard; there was no other way to explain it. I was becoming more turned on by every movement of his hands, and Antonio refused to relieve it- asshole. So, I requested that he didn't do anything that a professional masseuse would do with someone he or she didn't know, I didn't he was _actually_ going to listen.

He was the one who kissed me first!

"I don't have to return to work until the end of the week," Antonio commented, most likely sensing my aggravation. Well, good, I hoped him did. I couldn't believe he would do something like this. "We can go on another date on Thursday, if you are free of course."

"I'm free after four," I blurted out without really thinking. I swallowed as Antonio fingers gently grazed along my ribs.

"Bien, I really do want you, Lovi, but I want to take it slow."

I blinked then released a groaned as he began to rub the spot under my ribs; his hands were the fucking devil, I swear. "You want to be in a- uh, relationship?"

Antonio shrugged. His hands went back to my shoulders. "If you like."

"Why do you keep saying that?"

"I don't want to force you into something that you don't want."

I snorted. That annoying considerate bastard; it was like dealing with Feli all over again, except I would never want to get in Feli's pants. That would be weird and disgusting. And oh god, I just fucking pictured that; shit, I wasn't thinking about this right now...

"Oh, okay."

Honestly, what did one say to that? Antonio just asked me out _and_ gave me the worst case of blue balls in history at the same damn time.

I shook my head. I wouldn't be a good boyfriend, or whatever. I didn't do relationships; I had the tendency to screw them up. "You don't want to do this," I frowned when Antonio rolled his eyes. "Why would you want to date me, anyway? All I do is insult you!"

It wasn't really insulting; it just came with my language. Very few people understood that.

"I take your insults, as you call them, as words of endearment." Of course he did. "It's only a part of your personality. I actually find 'tomato bastard' pretty funny."

"You're a freak."

Antonio smiled warmly as he massaged my shoulders even harder. "You're not the first person to call me that. I take it as a compliment more than anything." He winked then stopped his hands. "So, what do you say? Do you mind going on another date a flight attendant who has a great love for tomatoes and feisty Italians?"

I sighed as Antonio restarted his massage. I shouldn't consider- oh, what the hell. It didn't hurt to try, and I wouldn't have to listen to Feli complain to me about how I never gave anyone a chance. "Fine, I will go on a stupid date with you."

Antonio beamed and continued to give me the best massage I would ever have.

**To be continued.**

**I plan to update by the end of the month, and this time, I vow to stick to my plans. I hope you all enjoyed it, and don't forget to tell me what you think. And if there are any mistakes, please feel free to tell me. I always think I've checked everything completely until I read it again much later and see the chapter fluttered with errors. **


	7. Chapter 7

**_Two Days Later_**

"I should kick your ass for that stunt you pulled the other night."

That was the first thing my beautiful Romanito said to me when he walked to our table. He looked absolutely handsome in his buttoned-up collared shirt and slacks; I told him that he didn't have to. Wearing casual clothes was pefectly acceptable, but he insisted that only stupid people wore jeans to a date.

Oh, Romano.

I was so happy he was here. I thought he would have been a bit upset when I told him I had to change the venue for our date.

I had originally planned to make him dinner; I had this wonderful recipe in mind. It would have been only fitting to do so since Romano had made dinner for our first date (yes, it wasn't a real date, but details weren't important). However, Natalya was home and demanded that I didn't return back to her place until the late morning hours (I didn't comment on the fact that while she told me this at her doorway, there was a man behind her tip-toeing his way into her bedroom).

Which reminded me, I still didn't have a place to stay at for the night.

Anyway, since I couldn't cook myself, I decided to have the date at one of my favorite restaurants downtown.

I smiled to myself as Romano sat down. I couldn't help myself; I was on a _real_ date with Romano. Not a dinner to thank me for saving him from getting arrested. No, it was a real date, and he had agreed to it without much hesitation or complaint.

I was one lucky man.

"And hello to you too, Lovi," I said, getting up to pull his seat out. Romano's glare made me rethink my decision; I didn't see the big deal. It was only a gentlemanly thing to do. "What stunt are you talking about?"

I honestly didn't know what he was talking about. I purposely made sure that I didn't deceive him or make lewd jokes that would result in Lovi kicking me out of his apartment. I did everything I was supposed to do. I gave him a back and chest massage (even escaped with some kisses).

Maybe he was complaining about the kiss? But he didn't seem too upset about that at the time.

"Don't try to act stupid." Romano gave me _that_ look. "You know damn well what I'm talking about. Do you know how long I had to spend in the bathroom because of you? Feli thought I had some weird erectile dysfunction thing going on. I don't know how the hell he came to _that_ conclusion, because I _definitely_ didn't have any issue getting up."

I raised an eyebrow.

Hunh?

Oh.

_Oh_.

So, that was what Romanito was complaining about. No wonder he seemed so irritated; he must've thought that I refused to relieve him on purpose. Which was certainly not true, I couldn't tell you how much willpower it took for me _not_ to drag him into his bedroom.

But- I didn't understand his logic. He had specifically told me during the ride to his place that if I tried anything that was not massage-related, I would lose my reproductive organs.

"Lo siento, Lovi. I was not aware that I had upset you so much."

Romano scoffed, "Yeah, whatever. Just make sure it doesn't happen again."

I couldn't help but laugh. If Romano wanted me to go further than the other night, then he should have said something before. "I hope this restaurant is okay," I said. "I know it's not fancy, but-"

"It's fine," Romano said, pulling his chair in. He took and the menu and quickly read through it. "I want veal parmesan."

I smiled at Romano as the waiter came and took our orders. I was aware that the waiter was giving me odd looks, but I didn't care. He would not stop smiling if he had the chance to have a date with Romano.

"Okay," I said, handing the waiter the menus. I ordered the salmon entree. "How was your day off?"

"I had to listen to Feli and Ludwig talk about weddings," he grumbled, placing his jacket behind the chair. "Can you believe this? They were at my place talking about fucking weddings. I swear to God if the potato bastad thinks about proposing, I am going to kick his ass."

I nodded, understanding how strongly Romano felt about this. His twin's lover seemed always bring out the worst out of Romano. I didn't know why; Ludwig seemed fine from the way Feliciano had described him.

And yes, I had met Feliciano.

He had conveniently come home right when I gave Romano a departing kiss. We had a nice chat before Romano literally pushed me out the door, not before, might I add, giving me another kiss.

"What is it about Ludwig you don't like?"

"He's a bastard."

"Yes, we've established that."

Romano rolled his eyes. It was obvious that he didn't want to talk about his apparent aversion to Ludwig. "I don't want to talk about that bastard. It doesn't care if I hate him or not, as long as he doesn't break Feli's heart, I guess I should be fine. And he better not break Feli's heart, because I do have connections, you know. I won't hesitate to send the mob after his ass."

"I certainly do not doubt that." I smiled at Romano. It seemed that he didn't like Ludwig because he was dating his brother. It was understandable; he was just playing the role of a protective older brother. "Just try to be nicer to him, sí?"

"Whatever."

"Tell me about yourself," I requested as soon as the waiter gave us the wine and our dinners.

"Why?"

"I don't know much about you; except that you're Italian and work at a café, like to cook Italian food, have a twin brother, and hate planes as well as your brother's lover."

"Isn't that enough?" Romano asked as he played with his salad. "And how do you know I hate the potato bastard? I've never told you that."

"You call him 'potato bastard.'"

"And I call you 'tomato bastard.'"

"Yes, but that's not the same," I reasoned. "You call me 'tomato bastard' because that's your designated nickname for me. You call Ludwig a 'potato bastard' because you _really_ think he's a potato bastard."

Romano snorted and shoved a forkful of salad in his mouth. He had this irritated look on his face- I called it scowl no. three; he usually wore this expression when he knew someone had proved him wrong.

"What do you want to know?"

I beamed at him. I knew he would come around in the end. "Anything. Everything. I am not picky. Oh, I have an idea; tell about me your parents."

He had never talked about his parents.

"That's not exactly helpful, but then again you're you." Romano takes a sip of his wine before continuing. "Fine, my parents were from Italy. My mother was a teacher and my dad was a pilot, for commercial airlines."

I couldn't help but notice that he was speaking in past tense.

"My dad thought it was a good idea to raise a family in America, Chicago specifically, so that's why I'm in this godforsaken city," Romano grumbled, roughly wiping his mouth with the napkin. "Anyway, my mother liked to travel, all the time, especially the summers because, you know, she was a teacher. She didn't have to work over the summer and sometimes she would go on the flights my dad worked on. Something about discounts," He sighed. "When I was, I don't know, nineteen, my mother and father went on this flight to Paris- my mother always wanted to go to France. I had no idea why she had never went before; she lived in freaking Italy, for heaven's sake. You can take a train there."

I folded my hands on the table after pouring Romano some more wine. I didn't think he noticed that he had finished his glass already.

"Anyway, Feli wanted to go with her because he wanted to see the fucking Eiffel Tower, but couldn't because had a summer internship with some shrink center." He paused then choked up a bit. "My mother, being my mother, couldn't deny Feli anything so she had promised that they would go to France together during winter break." He sighed again and looked down at the table, his expression was one of sadness. "So my mother decided to go on the flight heading to Paris, that my father was flying. It was flight 189."

I froze.

I was such an idiot.

Romano looked up at me and deeply frowned. "Judging from the look on your face, you know the rest of the story."

I felt like throwing up. I didn't mean for him to recount such a horrible event in his life. I was only giving him a suggestion. I held both Romano's hands, and to my greatest surprise, he didn't pull away, "Oh Lovi, I'm so sorry..."

Romano pulled his hands back. "Why the hell are you apologizing for something you didn't do?" He didn't leave me room to answer. "And dumbasses wonder why I don't like planes. They crash because of every little thing." Romano angrily grabbed the wine bottle and growled when I took it away from him. "One small piece brought that plane down. Just because the- that thing that could detect altitude- decided not to work, over two hundred and fifty people, including my parents are dead."

For the first time, in a very long time, I didn't have any words to say. I absent-mindedly ate some of the salmon, feeling bad that I pushed Romano to talk about something he obviously didn't want to talk about.

"I don't want a fucking pity party from anyone," Romano snapped, instantly getting my attention, "Especially from you. It doesn't do anyone any good, and I'm sick and tired of playing the victim." He paused as I gaped at him. "Hey, you asked me about my parents, I gave you an answer."

"You didn't have to tell me that..." I mumbled, refusing to look at Romano. "You could've said no."

Romano scoffed. "Like that would've stopped you, you're persistent as fuck." He stared at me. "I have a question. How do you do your job? I mean, I know I would freak the fuck out the second a plane goes through turbulence or about to crash."

I shrugged. This was not the first time someone had asked me this question. "It's fun. The passengers for the most part are pleasant to deal with, unless they like to dare other passengers to do things before takeoff," I laughed as Romano attempted to hide his blush. "You get used to the turbulence. And about plane crashes? I normally don't think about them."

"Lucky you," Romano muttered, reaching over the table to grab a piece of my salmon. "You're a hell of a lot braver than me in that department."

I tried to smile.

Romano rolled his eyes then his expression returned back to annoyance. I hoped it wasn't because of me. "I am the oldest child. Feli is younger than me by about two and a half minutes. We are complete opposite. He's all kind and into cute things and has a weird obsession with pasta," He stared at me and smirked. "It's like you and your obsession with tomatoes"

"I do not have an obsession with tomatoes."

"Hey, if it makes you sleep at night." He took more of my salmon. "Fuck me, this is good. Order me another plate; I'll pay for it if I have to."

I shook my head and pushed my plate towards Romanito. "No, I'm treating you to dinner this time. I'll pay for it." I held my hand up as Romano opened his mouth to protest. "This is a date, you know, people don't ask others out on dates without paying the whole thing."

"I'm not a fucking girl."

"This has nothing to do with gender."

Romano snorted and shove some more salmon his mouth. He slowly licked the juice off his lips, looking at me suggestively. "Fine, you buy it. I don't care," He stopped. "What was I talking about before? Oh yeah, Feli. Anyway, although Feli can be stupid at times, he's super smart. He got accepted a full-ride scholarship to University of Chicago. He knows how to make people talk, even if they don't want to. He's a damn good listener- that's why he's a shrink."

"I'm glad."

"He thinks I have issues expressing my emotions," Romano snorted again. "And have the tendency to stress myself over stupid shit. Can you believe that?"

"Judging from the massage I had to give you, yes."

"Oh, shut up.' Romano finished the salmon and rubbed his stomach appreciatively. "That was fucking great. I need to get this recipe- I think I can taste all of the ingredients. And I can tell this was cooked slow, probably at three hundred degrees.

I smiled at him. I didn't know why Romano didn't become a cook. He was very passionate about food and cooking. "Lovi, how can you tell?"

Romano looked at me with pride. "I have a talent. Oh, and I suppose I should tell you that I applied to a culinary school."

"Ah Dios mio, Lovi," I said, clenching my fists over my heart. "That's so great! I'm so proud of you. I knew you could do it."

"Shut up, this has nothing to do with you," Romano insisted, though I could tell by the faint blush on his cheeks that I might have influenced his decision. I felt so proud. "I'm sick and tired of making good food for others for free."

I couldn't stop smiling. See, I told you Romano was wonderful.

"Enough about me," Romano said. I didn't say anything when Romano locked his ankle around mine under the table. He looked like he didn't realize what he was doing, but from the sly look on his face, I was starting to think otherwise. "Tell me something."

"I told you everything about me," I responded, and I did. Last night, I called Romano to tell him about the change in the date plans and the intentional five minute phone call turned into us talking for two hours straight. I had pretty much given him my entire life story.

"I don't mean your life story. You wouldn't shut up about that last night," He scowled at my laugh. "And stop laughing. Forget it."

"Oh, I'm sorry," I muttered, containing my laugh. "Um... what should I tell you?" I honestly didn't know what else to say about me. I wanted to tell him that I was thinking about going to flight school, but after hearing the story about his parents, this wouldn't be a good time. "I got kicked out of my house- place of residence this morning."

Romano stopped eating. "What the hell do you mean you got kicked out? What did you do?"

"Apparently, my presence would have ruined the mood." I laughed. "The woman I am staying with has friend over," I winked at him. "If you get my drift."

Romano stared at me for a moment, not doing a thing, before bursting into full-fledged laughing fit.

It was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard.

Besides his moans. His moans won that award, hands down.

"You got kicked out because of that-?" Romano said, pointing at me and laughing even more before stopping abruptly. "Yeah, I don't know why I found that so funny."

"Has everyone told you your laughs are simply wonderful?"

"You love complimenting people, don't you?" Romano asked, with no annoyance in his voice. "I swear you give compliments about everything."

I shrugged. "I give compliments when they are due."

"Weirdo."

Romano and I shared the rest of the veal parmesan in silence. It was nice and Romano seemed to be enjoying himself. And I realized when I finished the second to last piece of veal that not once did Roma reprimand me for calling him everything but his real name.

I was certainly making some progress.

"That was delicious," I said, watching Romano who had a look of pure bliss as he ate the last piece of the meal. Dios, he was so beautiful. "We definitely need to come back here another time."

Romano didn't make any objections.

I reached out for the dessert menu on the edge of the table and looked through it. "Do you want some dessert?"

Romano finished his second glass of wine and stared at me with an expression I had never seen before. He then glanced down at the dessert menu. "You don't have a place to stay for tonight, right?"

I looked up at him with confusion before reading the dessert options. "No, not until nine tomorrow morning."

"Hunh," I heard Romano replied in a low voice. "Where are you going to do?"

I frowned a bit. I didn't think about that. Maybe I would go to Isabella's place and bake her a cake as a peace-offering for my intrusion.

"Fool, that sounds like a stupid idea. Liz will kick your ass for sure, then kick mine for letting you do something like that," Romano said, shaking his head in shame. "You're staying at my place."

I blinked, not believing what Romano had just suggested. I was not expecting this. "What?"

"I know you heard me," Romano grumbled, before calling over the waiter. "You're not going to be roaming around Chicago like an idiot because your roommate wants to hook up."

"But what about Feliciano?'

"He won't give a damn. Anyway, he's out with the potato bastard," Romano responded then asked the waiter for the check, ignoring my look of surprise. "We're not having dessert here."

"We're not?"

"No." Romano said thanks to the waiter, glanced at the checkbook and took out a couple of dollars. He spoke up before I could protest. "It's just the tip. Come on, hurry up and pay the damn bill. There's supposed to be a storm coming in tonight and I rather not drive in snow and wind."

I didn't know what to say. I was flattered that Romano was offering me a place to stay, but I didn't want him to feel like he had to. I let out a deep breath and took out the cash for the dinner. "You don't have to, Lovi..."

"Shut the hell up." Romano crossed his arms while he watched me give my payment to the waiter. He pushed back his chair and quickly put his jacket on. "We need to stop at the corner store, before we head home."

"Why?"

Romano rolled his eyes. "Don't be stupid." He groaned and rolled his eyes again when he realized that I honestly didn't know why we needed to stop at the store. "We need to finish what you started two nights ago."

I sputtered.

Romano didn't notice my- whatever was going on with me. "It's been a while since I, you know, and I don't even want to think about where Feli has his stash of condoms..." He paused to look at me and proceeded to rolls his eyes for the third time. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

I gulped and put my coat own. "You- you want to-"

Not that I was complaining.

"Have sex, yes." Romano finished, grabbing my hand. "Now, hurry up before I regain my sanity and change my mind."

Did I tell you how amazing Romano was?

Simply amazing.

**To be continued. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: I wasn't planning to update any time soon because I had a bad, horrible feeling it was going to take me forever to find a way to pull this off and make it sound good. Unfortunately, I have a tendency to obtain inspiration during class, so this chapter was written a lot quick and a heck of a lot longer than initially anticipated.**

**Good for you guys, bad for me and my never-ending amount of school work. Oh well, it's for a good cause ;D**

**So this is my first time writing anything that's lemony-related. Please keep that in mind when you read and wonder what on earth I was thinking. **

**Apologies for the long author's note; now on to the chapter. **

**Enjoy!**

The ride to Romano's apartment was surprisingly quiet and uneventful. I didn't know why, but I had no interest in sparking a conversation- an amazing feat for me. Although Roma could be stubborn at times, I enjoyed talking with him.

Maybe I was excited? Excited because Roma was excited- he swore he wasn't but he wasn't as good of a liar as he thought- about taking whatever this was to the next level?

I smiled widely at Romano who was staring at the road in front of him, scowling at the world. He glanced at me for a split second right before stopping at the stop light. "Stop smiling," he grumbled, rolling his eyes as my smile grew. "I don't even know why I even deal with you."

I shrugged. He had the tendency to say that every time we meet or talk to each other. "Because I make you happy?" I replied with hope, reaching over and lightly stroking his thigh. And I might have felt a tang of satisfaction at Romano's sudden intake of breath.

I had promised myself and Roma, as soon as we left the restaurant, that I would keep my hands to myself during the car ride, but I couldn't help it, especially when Romano's face flushed in that adorable way of his.

Romano snorted and drove when the light turned green. He didn't try once to remove my hand. "Do the world a favor and don't talk for the rest of the ride," He looked down for a moment. "And keep your damn hands to yourself."

I shrugged again, giving his thigh a light squeeze before leaving him alone. I had learned that when Romano told me to shut up, it was usually because I either made him uncomfortable- which according to him was surprisingly rare- or whatever I said was the truth. This time it was the latter.

I didn't say anything else for the rest of the ride. When we arrived at Romano's front door several minutes later, I couldn't help but wrap my arms around his waist and bury my face in his neck.

Romano relaxed in my arms, but soon stiffened when he realized what he was doing and searched through his pockets for his keys.

I lightly placed a kiss on the back of his neck and ran my hands up his sides. Romano visibly trembled, grabbing his keys and attempting to open his door with shaky hands. "Can I open the fucking door first?"

I chuckled in his ear as I sneaked my hands under his shirt. "Lo siento, Roma. I really am."

"No, you're not," Romano grumbled and turned into a low guttural moan as my hands reached further up this chest. "Bastard..." When he finally opened the door, he turned around, grabbed my collar with both hands and pulled me inside.

As soon as we took off our shoes, because even in this state Roma still managed to complain about his brother's unnecessary demands, and turned on the light, Romano pulled me to him again, placing his lips over mine.

Lovi gently ran his fingers from my cheeks down to my jaw, letting out an appreciative noise when I muttered a surprised yelp when his tongue entered my mouth.

I soon sighed into the kiss, resting my hand on his hips while Roma made sure there was no space left between us. This lasted for a few moments, and I wanted to bring him in for another kiss but he pulled away, moving his hands down to my shoulders and down my arms.

It was only when he roughly grabbed the hem of my shirt that I knew what he wanted to do. I watched as Romano pulled my shirt down harder and tried to quickly rid me for the garment by popping out the buttons.

So, he was in a rush. Understandable, in situations like these, clothes tended to get in the way.

I glanced at the clock on the wall in front of me. "Lovi, my love, it's only nine," I pointed out, stopping Roma's hands from ripping my shirt apart. "There's no need to rush."

Of course Roma rolled his eyes. This was his fourth favorite response, behind glaring, scowling and saying "shut up."

"Fine," he said, patting my chest a couple of times. He went back to my shoulders, hands traveling down to my arms, stopping at the end of the sleeves. He paused for a moment before unbuttoning the sleeves. "Slow, we'll do slow."

I couldn't explain the smile I gave him, he must have noticed too because he looked at me again, he had this disgusted- not really- look on his face that he only wore when I did something "adorable."

"You know, I can never forgive you for this."

"What...?"

"I was doing this celibate thing for a while," Romano muttered under his breath, now slowly unbuttoning my shirt. "Feli said it would be good for me, so I could focus on other things that didn't involve one night stands. I vowed I wouldn't have sex. Doing pretty damn well too, and then your ass had to come along and fuck everything up."

Interesting.

"That was not my intention..."

Romano stopped and gave me a slightly frustrated look. "_Three years_, I haven't had sex in three years. And I didn't even crave for it, thought never crossed my mind." He paused, furrowing his eyebrows together. "That's not true, but I never acted on my desires. No matter how hot the guy was, I didn't do it. I fucking resisted-" He sounded more upset with himself then he was with me. "It was that damn massage you gave me. It messed me up."

I tried not to chuckle, finishing the rest of the buttons. I had to admit, if I knew Romano wanted it this bad, I would have complied with him that night. "Lo siento, Lovi, the massage was not intended to make you sexually frustrated."

Roma rolled his eyes and glared at me- only he could look mad and turned on _and_ annoyed at the same time- swapping my hand away in order to unbutton the last button. "Stop saying that. You're not sorry- if you were so sorry then you would have never kissed me in the first place."

I let Romano take off my shirt.

"I couldn't help it." I thought about taking control, undressing myself without any assistance. I really did, but from the way Romano was acting, he wasn't going to let that happen. It was nice, not having to initiate every move.

"Of course you couldn't." And with that, he kissed me again. This time it was more passionate, more heated than the last, he wasted no time pushing his tongue between my lips and into my mouth, holding my face close and deepening the kiss.

I simply loved kissing him. He had the amazing ability of pouring his emotions into each kiss, even those he would refuse to express verbally.

I let him dominate the kiss. He was determined to take and keep charge and who was I to stop him? It was a nice change for once. I loved the way his tongue caressed mine as our hands continued to explore each other's bodies. Romano's hands were the most adventurous, but they eventually settled for my shoulders.

I didn't want to stop. He was a drug and I wanted more of it, but a thought crossed my mind causing me to reluctantly pulled back. I heard Romano grumbled; it was safe to say, he was a bit irritated. I saw his glare as soon as his eyes locked with mine, and sighed when Romano squeezed my shoulders a bit too hard.

"Feliciano...?" I started off. Romano shook his head and moved his hands back to nape of my neck. He moved his hands all over, wanting to make sure he had covered every inch neck and shoulders. He looked so beautiful right now, and I couldn't even believe how soft his hands felt against my skin.

He abruptly stopped.

"At the potato bastard's house," he quietly replied, understanding what I was asking, stepping back, taking his shirt off and throwing it on the table. "Won't come back until tomorrow."

"What do you want to do?"

Romano walked back to me, rubbing his hands together. He gave me a heated look, slowly licking his lips. "You can't be that stupid..."

His response didn't sound like an insult. No, it didn't, not with the way Romano was roaming his eyes all over my body. This guy, he was going to be the death of me. I knew it.

I closed the distance between us. I couldn't handle not having him in my arms, not having my lips on his. Romano smirked into the kiss and gripped my sides tightly then moved his hands up to my shoulders, caressing them.

"Roma…" I breathed. My body was becoming overheated just from this. We weren't doing anything, we weren't even half undressed. We kissed; we ran our hands over some areas, but I shouldn't feel like I was moments from losing it.

Romano broke the kiss. "I want you to fuck me," he whispered hotly in my ear, slowly and lightly raking his nails down my torso. "I want to you to fuck me nice and slow. I want to feel you inside me, taking me, claiming me. You think you can do that?"

_Ah Dios._

"Yes..." I breathed out, not caring that Romano had this insufferable smug expression on this face. I shuddered as Roma's hands reached my belt and unbuckling it. "I- I think I can."

The usage of profane language was quite common in Romano speech. He used it in almost every sentence, as an adjective, as a noun and more often than not, an adverb and a verb.

I was used to it, shocked me at first, though I was positive that most people would think the same, but after a while, I realized that it would be weird if he _didn't _use profanity.

It never affected me. Saying _fuck _and _shit _to Roma was like saying _good _or _bad_ to everyone else.

But damn, this was different. This was completely different. I had never thought, in a million years, I would get turned on by the simple word _fuck-_ I normally didn't like the word when it described sexual intercourse. I found it to be too crude. I was more of a love-making kind of a guy, but Romano could say fuck and I wouldn't mind, because... _fuck._

I wished I had learned before that Roma had a penchant for dirty talk.

This might not make sense, but Romano was stroking me through my boxers and making love to my ear with his tongue, so my mental process was going through a crisis right now.

I emitted a groan of disappointment when Romano stopped and kneeled down in front of me.

"Don't speak in English," Roma requested, pulling my pants down more with his other hand. He changed his movements with his other hand and smirked as I moaned out his name. "Don't speak it for the rest of the night. Capisce?"

I blinked. This was an unusual request, but if that was what Roma wanted, I would comply.

"Okay, si quieres."

Ah yes, now I remembered.

Roma liked when I spoke in Spanish. I had realized this on our first date (I didn't care what anyone said, the dinner at Greta's was a date) and when I gave him that massage.

I watched Romano take a deep breath and mumbled something about going crazy. I wanted to ask him about it, but he wasn't having any of that. He quickened his pace, crushing his body against mine. For a moment, I couldn't decipher between his groans and mine. My eyes were closed, the fact that I was still able to stand up straight was nothing short of a miracle. My knees threatened to give away as Romano ran his tongue up my neck and then stopped at my ear.

My head titled back as Roma's thumb grazed over the head. I was close. I could feel that infuriating feeling churning in the put of my stomach, ready to release.

He chuckled lowly when my breath hitched and my hips increase their thrusts into his hand, demanding his hand to move fucking faster.

Romano complied, but only for a small amount of time. He deeply breathed in then stopped.

It was the most ridiculous-

"We're not doing this here," Romano said, smiling at my confused expression and my gaping. I gaped at him- I couldn't believe he would just _stop _like that. That was not nice at all. Romano grabbed my hand and led me further into his apartment, and into his bedroom. "Feli will throw a fit if he finds mysterious stains on his precious couch," he laughed, noticing that I was still not over what he had done. "I'm sorry- but you can call him a freak when you see him. You have my permission."

"Gracias... I guess, " I responded under my breath, pulling my boxers and pants up so I wouldn't trip while walking into the room. I stopped as Romano directed me to his bed, Feliciano's was on the other side of the room.

"Think about it," Romano said, finding this entire thing humorous for some reason. He closed the door. It was dark, save for the light coming in from outside and the night light. "If Feli gets mad then I can't bring you over anyone because he would think that his carpet, among other things, will get ruined every time." He looked up at me. "And that means we can't do _this_, unless your roommate wouldn't mind at doing it at her place."

"Oh, she would mind," I answered, shuddering at the thought of Natalya finding up about his activities with Romano. She would freak out and tell Maria, who would freak out even more and tell Katsuya, who would not freak out, but lecture me about relationships- and I didn't want to deal with that. Not now, I had to attend numerous flights for the next few weeks; I wanted to spend last two days in Chicago in peace. "Definitely mind."

Oh, I was supposed to say that in-

Romano didn't seem to mind my language slip. He pulled me in front of him as he sat down on the bed. He reached over and turned on the light. It was nice this way, it was more romantic.

He wasted no time removing my pants and boxers again but stopped and looked up. I couldn't read his expression- it was nothing I had ever seen before. "Grazi," he mumbled, squeezing my hips.

I blinked, wondering that he was thanking me for. If there was one who should express some gratitude, it should be he, for the most part. "Wh- por qué?"

"I've never done this before," He admitted, about what, I had no clue, but I couldn't think well when Roma was rubbing the sides of my hips gently. He continued on, trying to conceal the nervousness in his voice and resume running his hand along my erection. "I have always wanted to try it, leading things, even for a little bit. I don't want to do it for the whole time; it's too damn tiring." He let out a humorless laugh. "The other guys normally did all the work. I just laid there and well, _you know_."

"Yo comprendo."

"But I meant what I said in the living room," Romano stated seriously, he stroked me a few times before stopping. "I want you to _fuck _me." He raised an eyebrow when I released a groan. That _word_. It was that damn word again. "And I rather not finish you off with my hand."

I smiled and cupped his chin with my hand, tilting it up, forcing him to look in my eyes. "De nada." I took a steop forward, sat down on the bed and asked him again if it was okay, if I did this. As expected, I got a glare as an answer.

"Why do you keep asking me dumbass questions?" Romano breathlessly asked, moving further onto the bed before removing and tossing his undershirt to the side. He dug into his pocket and put the condom on the table. "I don't give a damn what you do, just do something, damn it, before I kick your ass out, and you know I don't have any problem doing that."

I smirked, positioning myself between Roma's legs as soon as he spread and bent them then leaned over him, kissing along his throat. In return, he placed his mouth on the junction between my neck and shoulder, and sucked on it hard, pushing his hips against my body. He was becoming more frustrated and I was enjoying every moment of it.

He closed his eyes, resting his head against the headboard. He reached for a small pillow to under his neck so he wouldn't strain it.

The pout on Roma's face turned in a look of pleasure when I leaned over and moved my mouth along his chest, going down, tracing his lean stomach with my tongue. I stopped at his hips and started to unbutton his pants. I heard Roma muttered something inaudible. I glanced up at him.

He was sitting on elbows, face flushed, staring directly at me, eyes traced with arousal and curiosity as if he was trying to guess that I was planning to do.

I kissed the side of his hip then proceeded to pull off his pants followed by his boxers "Te importa?" I asked, knowing that Roma was going to yell at me again but asking questions. I couldn't help it. I had to make sure he was fine with this. The last thing I wanted was for him to feel uncomfortable.

"No."

Romano reached for the condom on the table between his and Feliciano's bed. He sat up and ripped the wrapper. "Here," he said. He shrugged at my confused expression and sighed. He most likely figured out what was going to come next, though I didn't understand why-?

Oh.

It finally dawned on me. I took the condom and put on the side of the bed. "Ahora, preferiria no usar este." I glanced down hoping Roma got the point. His surprised look said he did and let out a gasp as I began to stroke him."Estás...?"

He blushed, knowing what I was asking. "Yes, I'm clean, but-"

"Bien, useramos este mas tarde, sí?" I said, cutting him off before taking him in my mouth. Roma's eventual protests transformed into a strangled groan.

I would never be tired of that sound.

After positioning myself in a more comfortable spot, my arms were starting to strain, I gripped the base of his cock with my hand and started to suck harder, stopping only to move my tongue along this tip. Romano's pants increased along his hip movements. I tried to put pressure on them with my other arm- doing so would make everything easier.

I was shocked by how willing I was to perform this. I usually was impartial to giving blow jobs. I didn't know what exactly, but I supposed it was because I normally found it to be a chore than enjoyable. It was rare for me to get off (or even aroused) while trying to get someone else with my mouth and tongue. Most times, I would touch myself to get more in the mood, but after a while, that too felt like a chore.

That was never a good thing.

I would be lying if I said that I wasn't a little scared when I realized that I was becoming hard again. I decided to keep my mind off it for the time being, and enjoy myself.

I watched Roma as I continued to suck. The look on his face was something I would remember forever- a look of pure bliss. He occasionally bit his slightly parted lips. He stopped trying to control his expressions and his breathing. His arms were stretched out, occasionally clenching the sheets. His chest was rising and falling in an increasing rate.

He only made small sounds. The short release of breaths and the low moans were more meaningful coming from Roma, who was usually loud about everything, having the tendency to scream out his sentences, at times unnecessarily.

I had my eyes closed for a moment so when I felt a hand latching onto my hair, pulling it up with such force that it almost hurt, I lurched my head forward, surprised by the action. When his cock accidentally touch the back of my throat, as I tried to get back to the normal pace.

In the end, I decided to withdraw completely.

I wasn't expecting that, I thought, moving my hands steadily along his erection. I was breathing just as rapidly as Romano

Romano groaned, throwing his head back. His grip on my hair became ever tighter. "_Fuck_..."

"Estás bien?" I asked, noticing that Romano was trembling rather violently. His hands were grasping the sheet hard, knuckles turning white. He slowly nodded, licking his lips, not once removing his lust-ridden eyes from mine. I loved this; Dios, I loved for Roma to watch me while I pleasured him.

Hm, this was a first.

"No cierra los ojos, por favor?"

Romano response was another groan as I covered him with my mouth again. He was mumbling my name, my actual name. Not tomato bastard, but _Antonio_. And he was saying to so breathlessly. He hadn't removed his hand from my head… and I surprisingly didn't mind it. But it might have something to do with the way he was doing it and the reason _why_ he was doing it-

It was... well, I couldn't explain it.

I reached down with and stroke myself with my other hand, moving to a sitting position to have better access- it felt a lot less like a chore. In matter of a fact, it felt like a necessity.

I didn't know why this was happening now, but I didn't dare question it. There was no dispute, I was attracted to Roma. I craved for him, much more than anyone else, and it wasn't only because of his-

I instantly pulled back when the realization hit him hard.

_Mierda_.

Romano gave me a curious look through his clouded eyes. He moved up further on the bed, sitting up a bit. "What the- why the hell did you stop?"

I rubbed his inner thighs, smiling at him reassuringly. I wasn't going to admit that was currently through my own personal crisis- no, I would deal with that later when I was in a less aroused state. "Dame el... lube?"

Romano grumbled (I believed this was his fifth most common response) and grabbed the small bottle on the table next to him and threw it at me, thankfully, not far enough for me to move. I opened it and poured some on my fingers. "Gracias. Muchas gracias."

Romano was watching me for a while before grabbing the condom and handing it to me, instead of throwing it. I glanced at him and sighed. He was nervous; although he was trying to conceal it, it could sense the anxiety. "Estás…?"

"Don't you _dare_," Romano hissed, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes as I spread his legs again. Okay, so he was really nervous. "Hurry up."

I spread his legs further and leaned over him, planting kisses along his upper chest. Romano inhaled sharply, slightly shuddering as a finger entered him. I, noticing his shoulders tensing, continued kissing upwards, this time giving attention to his throat- he had responded quite well with this the last time I did it.

"_Come on,_ _bastard_."

"Okay," I muttered, inserting another finger. His shoulders tensed again, but I didn't think it was for the same reason. Roma groaned, driving his hips down against my hand, his back slightly arching. I took a deep breath, looking up at him. He was enjoying this, a lot, I realized as his shoulders relaxed. Romano bit his lip and continued to move his hips. It was definitely a sight to see.

"Another one," he grunted.

I did what I was told, breathing against his neck. I continued the ministrations a bit more. I had a sudden urge to touch Roma's erection that was growing harder against between our chests, but I would save that for later.

"Estás listo?"

"Yeah," Roma breathed out, sighing as I withdrew my fingers from him. "I'm good."

I sat back up, putting the condom on and coating myself with more lube. My breath hitched from the cool gel. My excitement skyrocketed- I was going to do this. I was actually going to do it and judging from the impatient scowl, of course, on Romano's face, he seemed pretty pumped too. I beamed at him.

Romano only raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, okay," I said, looming over Romano. I took the biggest deep breath in my entire life as I entered him, trying to look up at Roma to see if he was fine. He held his held and let out a grunt that was only slightly louder than mine, squinting his eyes tight as I continued on.

My head dropped on his shoulder when I was completely inside**. **Romano's hands almost instantly flew to my shoulders and squeezed them _harder_ than before. My fingers involuntary tightly dug into Roma's, he was _tight_. I took a few deep breaths in an attempt not to drive my hips into him again until Roma said so.

I kissed his shoulder then his neck and rubbed his sides soothingly, rubbing small circles on the flesh. "Yo te cuidare," I whispered, trying to control my breathing. It wasn't working too well. "Yo te cuidare."

I gasped loudly when I felt Roma's hips starting to move. "_Come on_," He mumbled, moving his hips up. I nodded against him, and pushed my hips forward, a little harder, causing to both us to cry out. He grinded his hips against mine, attempting to match every movement, hissing and mumbling curses in Italian as I continued to ravage his neck. It was so addictive, hearing and feeling Romano lose control like this. It was better than I could ever imagine and I made me go even faster.

I wasn't much better. My end was approaching a lot faster than I thought. I usually had more self-control than this, a hell of a lot more. I felt like a teenager again, trying to make sure I didn't come _too _soon.

The noises coming from Romano certainly didn't help. His groans became more frequent and louder, his breathing turned into erratic pants.

Romano wrapped a hand around his erection and moved it rapidly. His mouth was hanging wide, trying to make words that only came out as incoherent sounds.

"F-fuck..!" Romano shouted, throwing his head back violently as he came several moments later, all over his hand, squeezing around me like a vice. Needless to say, I didn't last much after that.

I whimpered, Dios, yes I did. My arms lost feeling and I might have ungraciously landed on Romano. It was okay, because that was amazing and Roma felt warm and although I had my eyes closed, I could practically _feel_ his scowl- but he didn't scowl immediately. That, my friend, was progress.

I wished I could stay here forever.

I glanced up at Romano.

Most people, when coming down from their high would cuddle, say something about their experience- good or bad- or pass out. But no, not Romano, oh no, instead of doing any of those things, he glared at me. Yes, he was looking at me as if I had just insulted him.

I was debating if this was a good thing or a bad thing...

I should be offended, because being glared at after sex was usually not a good sign, but then I wasn't after realizing whom I was dealing with. Only Romano would glare at me after having an orgasm.

"You're a fucking asshole, do you know that?"

I gave him a wide smile before throwing away the condom in the garbage next to the bed, and told him I took that as a compliment.

"Of course you do," he grumbled, attempting to sit up. He gave up after a few tries. He gave me a glare, that wasn't _really_ a glare; it was more like a half-hearted attempt to look mad when he really wasn't. "You owe me another massage."

I laughed. I might have known Romano for a little while, but I knew I could get used to his random outbursts of how I owed him something or was a weirdo. "You basically said that my massaging skills are the root of your problems."

"I'm done with the celibacy crap," Romano replied, placing a kiss on my shoulder. "It was stupid anyway. I like this much better."

I rose from Romano, holding myself up by my arms. "Let's make a deal, every time you make me food, I'll give you a massage."

"And a blow job, maybe some sex if you don't piss me off."

"Yes," I laughed. "And a blow job."

"Deal."

I leaned down and whispered, "Bésame, por favor?"

Romano, as expected, sent me an annoyed look, but obliged anyway and-

"_Ve, Fratello-!"_

What the-?

We instantly froze at the voice that only belonged to one person.

Damn it.

Maybe if we remained still, then Feliciano would disappear.

Romano and I stared at each other, both unable to move or make a sound then stared as the door as the footsteps became louder.

In all honesty, I didn't mind Feliciano being here. First of all, it was his home so he was allowed so show up whenever he wanted to, and second, I had plenty of experience explaining comprising positions to other people. Roma, on the hand, did not. He had mentioned quite a few times about his fear of his brother catching him in bed with someone. Completely understandable.

I thought this would be a good time to panic and Roma must have thought the same because as soon as we heard Feliciano mentioning to someone else (there was someone else here? Great, Roma would never want to bring me to his place ever again) about the random pieces of clothing strewn all over the living room floor and chair and table, Roma and I jumped out of bed and tried to put as much clothes on without making a sound.

Well, only Romano was able to put something on. My clothes were currently being inspected by Feliciano and the man with the German accent.

German accent...?

Nice, that meant Ludwig was here too. And from the look of horror on Roma's face as he pulled on a pair of shorts, it appeared he had noticed that as well.

"Merda..." he muttered under his breath, frantically searching through his drawers for something. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

I felt a bit bad; I couldn't make the situation any easier by putting more clothes on instead of wrapping a towel I found on the floor around my waist. By like I had said, my clothes were outside the bedroom; there was nothing I could do.

"Here," Roma whispered tossing me a shirt and a pair of sweats. "Hurry up before Feli and the potato bastard come in and lecture us to death about safe sex and dating and shit."

I didn't even want to ask. Something told me that Feliciano and Ludwig would do something like that.

I shrugged before pulling the shirt over my head.

I quickly put on the sweats and was about to ask Roma about a relatively safe escape plan before the bedroom door opened and there they were- Roma and I were greeted by Feliciano and Ludwig's presence, and boy did they looked shocked and a little horrified.

Well, things just got sufficiently awkward.

**Yeah... hoped you liked it! And please, do not be shy and tell me what you think. Constructive criticism is very dear to me and I would like to know what you thought about the lemon (that was a pain the ass to write, but I guess this is a first thing. It'll get easier in the future... right?)**

**Also, more characters will be popping up next chapter and Gilbert will return (which for some reason, I'm really excited about.)**

**Translations****:**

**Apologies for any mistakes. The translation comes from my memory of Spanish and my Spanish speaking friend. Not Google translate: I have learned experience concerning homework, that that website is not the greatest.**

**Grazi/Gracias: thank you**

**Merda/Mierda: shit**

**Besame: kiss me**

**Dame me: give me**

**Estas listo?: are you ready?**

**Yo te cuidare: I got you/ I take care of you**

**Estas bien?: are you okay?"**

**No cierra los ojos: don't close your eyes**

**Useramos este mas tarde: we will use this later**

**Ahora preferiria no usar este: now, I don't prefer to use this. **

**Te importa?: do you mind?**

**De nada: you're welcome**

**Yo comprendo: I understand**

**Si quieres: if you like**


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's note: I am so sorry for this long hiatus. I can't think of a very good excuse to why I haven't updated in two and a half months. All I can say is that this past semester has been hell and lately, I have been putting a lot of focus on revamping an older story. And dealing with insane writer's for this story. But now, it's the summer and although I have work, I will be able to update more frequently.**

After walking inside Greta's Café at five o'clock in the morning, I had decided that working during the early shift sucked ass. Especially when working on less than two hours of sleep.

"Romano, I am not paying you to doze off! Fix the muffins on the shelves and brew three cups of coffee!"

I glared back at Liz who was checking on the bagels baking in the oven and quickly swallowed down three shots of espresso. I hated this drink with a passion. It was bitter, and it was disgusting unless I mixed in a crap load of milk and sugar. But it did its job. This horrible drink was the sole reason why I did not pass out on the café corner. Not even Liz's constant screaming could keep me awake by itself.

It was almost six in the morning. There were currently no customers or other staff in the café, just me and Liz. Large numbers of patrons would not show up for at least another hour, which was nice because I was not in the mood to deal with bitchy, complaining, entitled customers this morning, not while I was living off three shots of espresso and barely any sleep. Francis should show up in the next thirty minutes. Unfortunately, chances were that he wouldn't show up for the next hour and a half because that dumbass wouldn't know what arriving on time for work meant if it knocked him upside his head.

"Romano, are they any extra muffins?" Liz asked, walking out.

"Yeah…"

"Damn Romano," Liz said taking my empty cup and tray of extra muffins. She _actually_ looked concerned for my wellbeing. I didn't know how I should feel about this. "What did you do last night? Did you even sleep?" She looked at me with concern- a very rare feat. "This is so unlike you. You're normally good in the mornings."

Liz was right. I was a morning person, believe it or not. I generally had no issue waking up at four o'clock- that was until this morning. Oh no, this morning, I had to force Antonio to literally drag me out of my bed. It wasn't my fault; I swear it wasn't I couldn't help myself. I wanted to sleep more. The bed was so damn warm and it was nice to have Antonio's arms wrapped around my-

Anyway,

If anyone asked, it was the tomato bastard's fault (as well as Feli and the potato bastard but I refused to think about the role their played in contributing to my lack of sleep). There was no other explanation, no way around it. I never had an issue with rolling out of bed when the alarm went off until _he_ and his Spanish-speaking, tomato-loving, massage-giving ass came into my life.

I couldn't tell Liz that Antonio was part of the reason why I didn't go to bed until two. Doing so would only result in her asking a lot of questions and me using a lot of brainpower (most of which was still probably asleep) to make up some very good lies.

"I had a uh- rough night."

I wasn't lying.

"Yeah, I can tell," Liz said, rubbing my shoulders. She gave me a sympathetic smile before walking into the café's back room.

I sighed as I continued to work on. I felt so sluggish. It was taking me twice as long to do my usual work duties. I was tired as fuck. I was sore as fuck and to top it off, I could feel all three shots of espressos waning out in my system. And that meant I had to make an even stronger cup of espresso which would probably make me go crazy and/or become unconscious.

When I decided to make another cup of espresso, I heard the door open. I tried not to throw a tantrum, but I was not in the mood to deal with any customer's, not yet. i cursed under my breath before announcing, "We will open in fifteen minutes."

"I thought you guys opened at five?"

I shot my head up and turned jjust to see truly the last person I wanted to see right at this moment. "What the hell are _you_ doing here?"

"I can't come here to say hello to my best friend," Gilbert said waltzing into the café.

"I thought I said I never wanted to see you again," I snapped at Gilbert as soon he was in front of me. He had a lot of nerve showing up. He should be fearing for his life right now for all of the crap he'd started. "Get the hell out of my face."

"Aww, you're still mad at me about what happened on the plane?" Gilbert asked taking one of my cookies without my permission. He only shrugged as I glared at him. "That happened a month ago."

It was more like three and a half weeks ago, not that I was counting. Because it wasn't important. It wasn't like three and half weeks ago was a monumental moment in my life. Of course not.

"It was less than that, and to answer you dumbass question, yes, I am still mad." I snapped. "And if you take another cookie, I am going to break all ten of your fingers."

"Oh, I have to start you have improved your threatening skills. Have you been taking lessons from Eliza?"

"Shut the fuck up."

"I had to admit, that was one funny plane ride," Gilbert said, ignoring my death glare. "I can't believe that guy saved you from getting arrested. You must've left one hell of an impression." He laughed at my enraged face. That fucker. "I don't know why you're so mad at me. If anything, you should be the one thanking me," he had the nerve to say. "If it wasn't for me and my amazing dare, you wouldn't have gotten yourself a new boyfriend."

"No, you should be thanking god that I haven't kicked your ass yet," I grumbled, hitting him with the wet rag. I didn't care that I had just wiped a dirty table with it. The bastard deserved it. "And Antonio's not my boyfriend."

"That's not what your brother told me."

I growled. Why was it always hard for Feli not to tell everyone my business? He couldn't keep his mouth shut for one fucking day? Maybe it was a therapist thing.

I should not be surprised that Gilbert knew and I shouldn't be very surprised that he had found out about Antonio from Feliciano. That fool had probably told all of Chicago and maybe the whole state of Illinois that I was supposedly dating a flight attendant.

"Fuck what Feli told you. The tomato bastard isn't my boyfriend."

"Aw, you have a nickname for him. How cute." He leaned on the counter and smirked with that annoying glint in his eyes. He watched as I continued wiping down the other side of the counter. "So how was it?"

I looked up and frowned. "How was what?"

Gilbert snorted because he must have thought I had the ability to read minds and figure out what the hell he was talking about. "My god, Romano, _the sex_. How was the sex?"

I gaped at him. What… how did he…? Maybe because he was a pervert. Maybe perverts had this ability to know when someone had sex the night before because all they could think about was sex.

"I am not talking to you about my sex life with that tomato bastard!"

"So you're admitting that you slept with the flight attendant," Gilbert nearly shouted before roaring with laughter. He should thank his lucky stars that there were not customers here yet, because if they were any, the cops would find him in a dumpster. "Oh come on, don't be like that. I'm your friend. Friends talk to friends about sex all the time!"

Why couldn't he be like his annoying ass brother? I hated the potato bastard with a passion, but there was one thing and one thing only I could tolerate from him: his inability to talk about anything involving romance and sex. The man couldn't even say the word sex without sputtering and/or blushing. According to Feli, he was just shy about expressing his feelings in a physical manner. I just said that he was emotionally retarded (which of course Feli disputed and then reminded me that I wasn't the most expressive person in the world when it came to feelings. Which was not true. I just didn't do lovey, flowery things like him).

"Since when are you interested in hearing about gay sex? Aren't you straight?"

"Of course I am," Gilbert replied as if I had offended him. "I love women, but I'm only bored. It's not seven yet. I don't have to work for another hour and I need a good story."

"It's not my problem you decided to wake up early."

"I just want to hear about how my best friend decided to revive his sex life."

I had decided that potato bastard number two was the most perverted man on this blasted planet.

"Sex life? What is this I hear about a sex life?" Liz asked emerging from the back room. She took off her apron, put it to the side and shook her head in shame while Gilbert and I exchanged looks. "I simply love hearing sex stories."

I looked at my boss with pure horror. Damn, she was worse than Francis, and I didn't even think that was possible.

"Eliza, our little Romano has finally seen the light. He has discovered the beauty of getting laid," Gilbert announced, ducking as I threw the rag at him. I was tempted to throw a large jar filled with cookies at him too, but then realized that Liz would not be too happy with me. He laughed as I continued to search for something to hurl at him. I didn't know why he was laughing; I was two seconds away from kicking his ass. "Aw Romano, don't be embarrassed. We all go through this."

"When I fucking get my hands on you, you're going to wish you were never born!"

"There is no threatening in my shop," Liz said trying not to laugh. "So darling… who was the lucky man?"

"It was the flight attendant," Gilbert replied, obviously not loving his life right now. "You know the one Romano kissed on the plane."

"Because of your fucking dare."

Liz rubbed her hands together and smiled. "So, what happened?"

"Yes, we want to know."

I couldn't understand why they were excited. It was a one-time thing (okay, maybe not). I was horny and Antonio was… well, he looked handsome. And his accent and his Spanish made my knees weak. I couldn't exactly help myself. I hadn't had sex in a long time, what was I supposed to do? Not do anything?

My God, I sounded like a fucking pervert who couldn't control his urges.

No, I sounded like a fucking pervert who couldn't control his urges in the presence of anyone who wasn't the tomato bastard.

Much better.

"You both are fucking perverts, do you know that?"

"We only want to listen to a good story."

I wasn't going to tell them about last night, no matter how many times they ask or annoy me. First of all, it was none of their business. Second of all, _it was none of their fucking business_.

Last night- well, last night was _last night_. I didn't think there was an adjective that could properly explain the wonderful... _series of events_ turned shit storm that was last night. It was going good. Great even; perhaps a little too great because Romano was not allowed to participate in fucking amazing sex without having something embarrassing happen to him right afterwards.

And that embarrassing something was having my brother and his lover catch him in bed with another man. Thankfully, it seemed like they were both too traumatized to give me and Antonio the much expected safe sex lecture. They had just stared at Antonio and I, not knowing what to say or do. Of course I had immediately reacted by throwing anything I could find at the door, my brother and his lover, yelling at the both of them to get the hell out. Feli and the potato bastard had quickly run away into the living room, apologizing like crazy.

I was pretty sure my face was beet red at this moment.

The tomato bastard had been calm the entire time. I had a strong feeling that this hadn't been his first time being caught in the middle (well, really the end) of an act. But it wasn't fair. I had wanted him to feel the same level of embarrassment I did.

(Or maybe he did? He wouldn't stop apologizing to me about Thursday night as if it was his fault that Feli and the potato bastard came home early and didn't knock before they barged into the bedroom.)

And then Feli, the fool, had suggested that Antonio and I go on a double date with him and the potato bastard. Unfortunately for Feli and luckily for me, Antonio would be working nonstop for the next few weeks. He wouldn't be back in Chicago until the end of month, which was two weeks away. And that would only be for day, if that long.

(I chose to ignore the part where the tomato bastard had actually agreed with Feli.)

"There's no story," I lied. "We had sex. That was it. He's leaving for work tomorrow and he's not coming back to Chicago for the next three weeks."

Gilbert did not say anything as he tried to take another cookie without getting caught. I glared at him. I was too tired to yell at him.

"That's a long time."

"It is," Gilbert agreed. He smirked at me. "Ready for a long distance relationship?"

"I'm not in a relationship!"

I hated him so much.

"Are you going to keep in touch with him?" Liz asked.

"Yeah, sure."

I had given him my number. The sane, "wanting to remain single for the rest of my life" side told me it was a bad idea. Giving him my number, for some reason, meant that I was expecting him to call me at some point and further the insanity that was our relationship (could I even call it that? No, I shouldn't. It implied that there was something romantic going on and even though there was a small, miniscule chance that I wouldn't mind our relationship going in that direction, there was no way in hell I was going to admit that to Antonio, myself or anyone.) Sadly, the insane part still remembered that I sort of, kind of liked talking to the tomato bastard and had a weakness for his hands (well, his body as a whole) and his language skills.

Unfortunately, the insane part had won in a landslide.

Of course Antonio was on cloud one thousand when I gave him it this morning before I left for work- that freak. He stared at the piece of paper with my number for about full minute before pulling me into a bone-crushing hug. He had seriously acted as I had given him ten million dollars.

"I promise to call you every day," Antonio said later this afternoon, while planting a small kisses on the top of my head. We were both on my couch (how we managed not to fall off yet, I had no clue). Half of my body was on top of his and Antonio had his arms wrapped around me. I refused to all it cuddling because Romano Lovino Vargas did not cuddle. Cuddling was for people like Feliciano Veneziano Vargas.

I needed to find a manlier term for this.

"You fucking better."

"And I will try to bring back a souvenir from every place I visit," Antonio added, lifting one arm up so he could run his fingers through my hair. "I will be in Europe for most of the flights. Oh- maybe I should bring back some chocolates from Switzerland and Germany and some wine from Italy. Would you like that?"

I nodded as I tried not to sigh when he began to massage my scalp, but I couldn't help myself. The bastard was very good with his hands and he knew it too.

"I'm going to miss you, Roma," Antonio said squeezing me harder. "I'm going to miss you so much."

"Yeah…" I muttered. I tried to sit up but the tomato bastard insisted on holding me down. "Listen to me bastard, and listen to me clear, you better come back to Chicago in one piece and alive. You're not allowed to die in a plane crash."

"I will try my best."

"I'm serious. I'll fucking, I don't know, hunt your ghost down if you die."

Antonio chuckled. "No doubt you will. Don't worry I'll be back in Chicago in no time."

I stared up at him for a bit. I didn't know why? Maybe I wanted to see if he was telling the truth or not. Which really didn't make sense, now that I thought about it. Who would lie about something like that?

"I'm only going to be in Europe for three weeks and then I'll come right back in your arms."

I froze. Three weeks. He was going to be in Europe for three weeks. I shouldn't be surprised. I knew about it. He told me his work schedule last week, but it was only now that I realized that crap, he was going to be gone for three fucking weeks. That's almost a month. Almost a month of no weird nicknames, corny romantic lines and random massages.

What the hell was I going to do for _three_ _weeks_?

"Hey, tomato bastard."

"Hmm?"

"What time do you have to be at O'Hare?"

"Ten am."

"Are you going to stay at your friend's house for the night?"

Antonio looked down at me. "Why do you ask?"

"Stay here for the night?"

What? It was nice not sleeping alone. And Feli had to go to a two-day long conference in Des Moines this afternoon so I didn't have to worry about a repeat of last night.

"I would love to, but all of my things are at Maria's."

"You can pick your stuff early tomorrow. I'll drive you there and to O'Hare."

Antonio blinked. "Really?'

"Yeah."

"In that case, yes I'll stay for the night."

I didn't say anything else. I only removed Antonio's arm from my waist and sat up on the couch. He watched me as I aimlessly looked around the living, trying to think about what I needed to do next. I looked back him and gave him a crooked grin before climbing over him. He looked up at me with surprised before matching my grin.

"Can you do me a favor?" I asked leaning in to place a kiss on his neck. I smiled against it when I felt Antonio's hands on my hips.

Antonio gripped my hips harder and breathed out as I continued to run kisses up his neck. This was becoming so addicting. "Anything…"

"Don't speak English for the rest of the night."

"Por supuesto," He whispered hotly in my ear as he reached down between our bodies and began to unbutton my jeans. "No hay nada en este mundo que no haría por ti."

_Fuck_, I was going to miss him.

**So this turned out a lot differently than I thought- in a good way, although I kind of feel like this is more of a filler chapter. I hope you enjoyed it and once again, please forgive me for this long hiatus. I will not happen again this summer vacation. Feel free to tell me what you think! **

**Translation**

**Por supuesto- of course**

**No hay nada en este mundo que haría por ti- there is nothing in the end world I won't do for you. **


	10. Chapter 10

**_Two and a Half Weeks Later_**

Despite what the potato bastard number two claimed, I was not having a tomato bastard withdraw.

I was perfectly fine. The past two and a half weeks had been normal. Nothing important happened. I worked my butt off at Greta's Café, dealt with Feli and his annoying as fuck boyfriend (or fiancé, he still wouldn't tell me why he was looking through wedding magazines), dealt with Liz and Gilbert's craziness and arrived to all of my cooking classes on time.

Everything was going fine.

Great.

Terrific.

Wonderful.

No, absolutely wonderful.

"You are the worst liar on the face of this planet- no, universe," Liz said as she literally dropped two bottles of lubes and a vibrator in my hands. "You're even worse than Francis and he can't lie if his life depended on it."

In case you were wondering why I was walking around with a vibrator and two bottles of lubes, Liz and I were at a sex shop for reasons I didn't think I wanted to know. And since there were no shopping baskets at the store, I had to carry everything because even though we weren't at work, I was still Romano, Liz's employee who did everything she asked.

We might need to reevaluate our friendship.

"Shut up, Liz. You don't know what you're talking about. Everything _is_ fine. I'm just living my life and dealing you and your bat shit craziness."

Liz gave me a sharp look, whether it was because I called her bat shit crazy or because she thought I was lying, I had no clue. She rolled her eyes and walked towards the trashy lingerie section.

Seriously, why were we _here_?

"Because," Liz started off, searching through the clothes. She had a very determined look on her face. "Since I do not have a boyfriend to provide for my needs, I have to take things into my own hands. And there's nothing wrong with trying to feel sexy."

I nearly gagged. That was something I would rather go without hearing. "Then why I am here? It's obvious that you need to have some alone time… for yourself."

Liz picked out a lace- whatever it was called, stared at it for a moment, shook her hand and put it back on the rack. "Because you need to get out more, and don't you dare say that you're not spending your nights, wrapped up in your covers and watching said romantic movies and eating whole gallons of ice cream- Feli's told me everything."

And Feliciano and his stupid big ass mouth strikes again…

"First of all, that's not true," I objected, grimacing at one of the outfit that Liz picked out. I couldn't even call it an outfit- it barely had any fabric. Why would anyone in their right mind spend forty bucks on something that was only made of up five small pieces of fabric was beyond me. "And I do go out!"

"And because since you're my gay best friend," Liz said completely ignoring what I had just said, "It is only fitting that we go shopping together." She glanced and me and frowned. "But this conversation is not about me. It's about you and the fact that you're turning into a lovesick teenage girl."

"Where are you getting this from?" I asked glaring at one of the customers who bumped into without saying sorry. This was why I hated shopping and people. "I am not acting like a teenage girl and can we please leave this place. People are looking at me."

And they were. I could've sworn I had five people, three of them woman, one man and a transsexual, gave me weird and at times, lewd looks as they walked past me. Of course they were giving me looks; I had vibrators, lube and lingerie, and now a rather fucking large dildo that magically ended up in my arms, in my hands.

I looked down, confused as fuck and looked up at Liz who was currently browsing through a large box filled with sex toys. "Why am I carrying a dildo- Liz can we please get the hell of this place? Thanks to you, people are judging me."

"Romano, we're in Boystown for heaven's sake. This is the gay capital of Chicago. Trust me, no one is going to judge you for holding a dildo, and anyway it's not like it's yours. You're just doing me and a favor and carrying my things."

"Yeah, like everyone else is going to know that," I snapped.

Liz sighed. It was quite obvious that she couldn't understand my pain, or perhaps she just didn't care. "I only need to get a few more things and then we'll leave. I promise." She continued to search through the box. "So anyway, enough about this. When is your boyfriend coming back to the great US of A?"

I grumbled at the word 'boyfriend,' but did not snap at Liz for saying the word. I had decided that there was no point fighting about this anymore. No matter how many times I told people that no, Antonio Carriedo was not my boyfriend, people would still think otherwise. Feli had claimed that I was in denial and needed to accept the fact that I was dating another man. I wasn't in denial; I was far from denial.

"The day after tomorrow," I replied in a quiet voice.

And before anyone said anything, I wasn't counting down the days until his return, because that would make me look like a lovesick child. I was just very good with my dates.

Yeah…

"What are you going to do when he comes back?"

I shrugged. I hadn't really thought about that. "I don't know. Nothing?"

"You can't do _nothing_. He's been gone for over two weeks. You guys should go out to dinner. Oh, you can have a little date at the café again. I won't mind."

This might not be a bad idea. I didn't have to worry about finding a place to eat at and I didn't have to worry about paying for a lot of things.

"I'll think about it."

A part of me wanted to have it at home instead of Greta's. I could cook him some dinner in the comfort of my own place. I didn't have to worry about making sure the café was suitable for the next day. But then I realized, Feli was going to be home, and most likely with the potato bastard.

And no, having a date at home wasn't going to happen. Feli proposed double date idea was going to happen anytime soon, and if I could help it, it would never happen.

Greta's Café it was.

"Just let me as soon as possible, okay?" Liz walked to the checkout line.

I nodded and followed her. I guessed it would be nice to have dinner with the tomato bastard the day he came back here. I supposed it would be nice of me. I knew Antonio would love the idea; anything involving me and food he enjoyed- I didn't know why _me_, but I never bothered to answer.

"When was the last time you talked to him?"

"This morning."

"Oh, that's sweet, keeping up with your long distance relationship."

I didn't reply.

As promised, the tomato bastard called me every single damn day. He told me stories about insane passengers and grumpy captains, airlines drama and how his mother, who lived in Barcelona, couldn't wait to meet me-

Hold up, the bastard had told his mother about _me_?

Did this mean that all of the bastards in my life, including Feli, were right after all? Were Antonio and I unofficially… _together_?

Because usually people didn't tell their mothers about the _other_ person unless they were close to serious with that other person. They didn't tell their mothers about their one night- actually, three-night, plus a couple of dates, stands.

My god… did this mean...?

See, this was _exactly_ the reason why I didn't do relationships. It always required one to think a lot, and frankly, I didn't like to think about things… like emotions. According to Feli and the potato bastard, not that I cared about what he said, I had a problem with admitting things to myself and that was part of the reason why I couldn't handle being in committed relationship with anyone-

"Romano," Liz asked hanging up two pieces of lingerie. She ignored the annoyed and bored look the cashier had on her face. "Which one do you like? I have to only choose one, unfortunately.

I blinked at her. I didn't have time for Liz and her questions. I was in the middle of having a relationship crisis. I needed to figure out the hell was going on between the tomato bastard and I by the time he came back to Chicago. I scowled at her and put everything on the conveyer belt. "The black one."

"The black one it is," she said smiling at the cashier who tried not to roll her eyes. She turned her attention back to me. "You can have the café for the night when Antonio comes back. Just make sure you clean the place and lock the doors. And try to keep everything PG-13."

I tried not to blush but I could feel my face heating up.

"I'll do my best," I choked out because honestly, what was I going to say to that? It was embarrassing enough that my own boss knew about my sort of love life. Bosses weren't supposed to know alot about their employees' personal lives. Even if they were friends. I looked at the now packed bags. Yes, now we could finally get out of this dreaded place. "Can we leave now?"

Liz thanked the cashier, took the bags and headed to the store exist. "Of course Romano. Where do you want to go next?"

"Any place that serves alcohol."

Liz shook her head and walked through the doors. "This early in the afternoon, really Romano?"

"I'm serious," I said cursing when I almost tripped over the ice on the sidewalk. I hated Chicago during the winters, if it wasn't freezing outside, it had ice. If it didn't have ice, it snowed. "I need to clear my mind."

"By getting wasted?"

"Exactly."

Liz gave me a soft smile and tried to rub my shoulders with the bags in her hands. "You miss him, don't you?"

I couldn't even argue with her.

I admitted it. I missed Antonio and his weird nicknames. It was odd not having someone call me Roma, or tomatito, or whatever stupid nickname, constantly. Sure, I heard it over the phone way too many times, but hearing it over the phone and hearing it in person were two _entirely_ different things.

I missed the way he spoke Spanish and gave me stupid comments about my cooking- before he left for work, I had made him this amazing breakfast out of pure boredom. I had enough food and like, I said, I was bored. The tomato bastard of course took it to the next level and said it was the best breakfast he had ever had in his entire life. I guessed I should feel happy about the compliment… yeah.

Anyway, the point was I was man enough to admit that although contrary to popular belief, Antonio was not my boyfriend, I missed him. A lot. Perhaps too much.

But could you honestly blame me? He was gone for over two weeks and wouldn't be back in Chicago for another two days.

"Yes. Yes, I miss him."

"Aw, that's sweet." She gave me a small smile before laughing when I gave her a sharp look. She shrugged and continuned to walk down the street to the nearest bar. She stopped when her phone rang several times. She ignored it at first, telling me it was probably Gilbert bothering her and not to worry about it, but she finally gave him after a while. She rolled her eyes, answered the phone call and said before the caller could even speak, "Gilbert, this better be good. You're interrupting my quality shopping time."

I shook my head and stood there watching Liz as she continued to roll her eyes, and tapping my foot out of annoyance. It was freezing out here. Couldn't she have the conversation in-?

I stood still when I noticed Liz's expression changing from irritation to pure horror. I raised an eyebrow, curious about Liz's sudden change of attitude, when Liz's eyes widened in ways I never thought possible as she brought her hand up into her mouth.

Damn it, whatever Gilbert was telling her must not be good or completely unbelievable. Or both. At least not for her.

Being the good friend that I was, I decided to ask her what was wrong, because it was rare to see Liz act like this. But right when I was about to say the first word to my question, Liz raised a hand up and said in a shaky voice. "_Are you sure_?"

She quickly glanced at me then grabbed my arm to pull me to the side. I supposed it was because we were both standing in the middle of the street. "I know you saw it on the news, but are you sure? I mean- the news, they- they make mistakes..."

I blinked. What the hell were they talking about? I could tell it wasn't good. Liz was leaning against the side of the store. Her eyes were red and she looked like she was about to cry. When I asked her what happened, she only let out and a small breath and nodded as Gilbert continued to talk to her. "Okay..." She breathed out after a while. She wiped both eyes with the back of her hand. "I'll tell him..."

Tell me what?

I took a step back, bracing myself for any news Liz was about to tell me. I told myself that there wasn't any point panicking. Maybe it was something trivial like- I didn't know. From the look on Liz's face, the news looked anything but trivial...

"What the hell-?"

She began, hanging up the phone and putting it in her purse.

"There was a flight, international flight..." She trailed off and turned away refusing to look at my confused and horrified expression. She spoke again. "Routine flight from Paris to Newark, flight 296- it crashed short of the runway in New Jersey..."

**To be Continued…**

**First off, I know I'm a terrible person for the cliffhanger, but don't worry I shall be able to post soon. Second, I had accidently posted the unfinished chapter to this story instead of the real one. Thankfully, I realized after twelve hours of positing the fake chapter, and I apologize to the readers who had read the original update. It was a dumb mistake. **

**So, I know this is a bit short, and I'm sorry. I couldn't think of anything else I wanted to write that would have nothing to do with the next chapter. However, have no fear. The next chapter will be a lot longer.**

**Thank you very much for reading and you lovely responses!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: I apologize for updating so late. I have been swamped with work from my new job and to top it off, the one time I actually had time to write something (Thursday), my computer screen decided to crack. So I will be writing in my school's library for the time being.**

I should have known from the moment I saw the massive storm clouds outside the windows that we were going to be in trouble. I didn't make a fuss about it. The flight crew already knew about the troublesome storm at that brewing over the American northeast.

The weather had been bad for the past hour. We were flying through thunder snow storms and do to the large amount of snow falling around Newark Airport, we had to divert the flight plans and go all the way to the airspace around Boston and fly in circles until we were cleared to land.

It wasn't a big deal. Some of the passengers were frustrated because we were going to be at least an hour late, but the flight crew just shrugged their shoulders when we had heard the news. We had been through this before.

Everything was going fine. Around noon, we were finally able to head back to Newark. And now, twenty minutes later, we weren't that far from the airport. I could see the runway far in the distance even with the abundance of clouds.

I was working with five other flight attendants on this flight, Mike, Antoinette, Lise and Christine. Christine and Lise were working in the first class cabin, while the rest of us dealt with the business and the coach passengers.

I had only traveled with Lise on one flight, the rest I hadn't met until several hours ago in Paris. They were nice. Mike was a newbie. He had only started his job a month ago. Antoinette was the oldest one; she had declared right before takeoff, that she was going to retire next month and live with her cat in Marseilles. She wasn't supposed to be on this flight, she had said, but due to the large amount of German and French passengers on here, she was called in to be the translator.

All of us glanced at each before pushing the food carts towards the back of the plane. The passengers were getting restless, and the annoying turbulence wasn't helping. There were a few kids and a couple of babies on this flight, and all of them were crying.

"_Make it stop_," Mike whined, covering his ears. "Why do babies have to cry so much…?"

Antoinette, who just came back from assisting a passenger playfully slap Mike on the back of his head and scolded him.

I laughed. He was just as overdramatic as Maria. Speaking of Maria, I needed to call her as soon as we touched down and warn her that I wouldn't make it to our next flight to Chicago on time.

And it was at that moment, while I tried to convince Mike that _all_ babies cry especially during turbulence, when everything quite literally turned into shit.

Out of nowhere, the plane plunged from the sky. We, as in the flight screw, had thought it was engine failure due to the hail, but we soon learned that couldn't be it, especially when the plane eventually leveled off _then_ started banking sharply to the left so much that the plane started the roll.

Engine failure wouldn't _cause_ that to happen.

What the-

"We should ask the pilots what's going on," Mike suggested, bracing himself as the plane experienced another long string of violent turbulence. This was getting insane. "So that we can figure out how to prepare the passengers."

We all glanced at each other, wondering which one of us was brave enough to go to the cockpit.

I might be a coward, but I wasn't going to volunteer. I had learned from experience, bothering the pilots while they tried to fix a problem was never a good idea.

Antoinette threw her hands up. "Fine, I'll do it." She gave us a shameful look and tried to head to the front of the plane, but right when she was about to enter the first class cabin, the plane jerked to the left, causing her to crash into the seats next to her.

Mike gave me a look before heading down the aisle. I was alone, by myself, in the back of the plane. Some of the passengers in the back rows stared at me as I went through each reach to ask if they were okay. Others asked me what was going on.

I hated this. I had no idea what was up, and I hated that I had to lie to the passengers and tell them that turbulence was the caused for this. I peered out of one of windows near the wing and frowned. Well, the engines were definitely running.

I stood up straight and headed towards to the back of plane when I noticed Mike heading in the same directions, rubbing his forehead, looking stressed beyond belief.

Oh no, this wasn't good.

"What did she say?" I whispered, glancing back at the main cabin. I didn't want to cause any panic by asking this question out loud.

Mike gave me a solemn look. "It's going to crash."

"Are- are you sure?"

I stared at him stunned. I didn't know what to say or do. There was not enough training that could fully prepare the attendants for a plane crash. I mean, sure we had been through training about how we should act- like how to deal with the passengers, and give out orders such as put on the oxygen masks. But I soon learned that all of that training could only do so much when we were falling out of the sky.

"Antoinette said that the captain muttered something about a dysfunctional rudder." He sighed. "Dysfunctional rudders are never a good thing."

"But that doesn't always mean it's going to crash."

"In this case, it does." He looked behind us and frowned as a several passengers looked our way. "If we're lucky we'll only have a crash landing. In any case, we need to prepare the passengers."

"Can we make it to the runway?"

"No," he quietly replied, before yelling at some passengers who for some unknown reason thought it was a good idea to unbuckle their seats. He grumbled and returned his attention back to me. "We're not going to make it to the runway."

"But I could see it from here. It's only a couple of miles away."

Mike shook his head and we both held onto the seats as the plane began to roll again. "The way this plane's acting, we're not going to make it."

"I understand."

As soon as Antoinette arrived back into the coach cabin, she, long with Mike and I, walked to each seat the best we could, instructing the passengers to keep their seat belts on and remain in brace position. If we managed to make the runway, which would be unlikely, it was going to be a nasty landing.

It felt like time had stopped as we continued to prepare the passengers. We all knew what was going to happen; it was inevitable. The plane was unstable; we only leveled for a few seconds before being turned sharply to the left or right. At least it wasn't steeply diving; we still had some chance of survival.

Antoinette continued to tell everyone that everything was going to be okay. Lise and Christine looked optimistic, but not me. I couldn't help but thinking that these were the last moments of my life. I didn't think I would ever see Chicago, or my mom or Romano ever again.

Maybe I should have more faith in myself. Maybe I shouldn't be so morbid, but dying was the only thing I could think of.

_"Flight attendants please prepare for a crash landing."_

Antoinette, Mike and I glanced at each other before we rushed to our seats and put on our seats. I didn't think I had never put my seat belt on as quickly as I did right now. Antoinette was across from me, muttering prayers under her breath in French. Mike was sitting towards the front with Lise and Christine. We gave each other a quick look and shrugged. There wasn't anything we could do right now.

"Antoine, May God be with you."

I sadly smiled at the little nickname she gave me as we boarded the plane back in Paris. "And also with you, Antoinette."

Antoinette nodded and bended down, placing her hands under her seat, bringing her legs in. I dared to look out of the window for the first time in several minutes. We were near the ground.

I sat back up in my seat and shouted in the loudest voice I could muster, "_Brace_!"

I held my chest and legs together in the brace position as tight as I could as the plane slammed onto the ground.

That sound didn't last too long. It was soon replaced by the sound of metal grinding against me, people screaming and crying. I could hear the plane breaking into pieces, fire brewing near the fuel tanks and the engines stopping.

The plane didn't stop as soon as it hit the ground. I wished it did. The sound of the plane skidding along the ground for what it seemed like forever was nothing short of terrifying.

I couldn't see anything. My eyes refused to open and I didn't know if we were heading into nothing or heading into something.

And then it stopped.

I did not move right away, but my eyes snapped open, staring down at what used to be the cabin floor. I was in so much pain that I couldn't bring myself to shout out in agony or even cry. I was in a state of shock that I was still breathing. I took a few deep breaths before I dared to look up.

Nothing was recognizable. No one could tell that whatever this was used to be a jumbo jet. Everything towards the front of the plane was in pieces and surrounded by air. I could see part of the left-wing attached to part of the fuselage.

I looked across from me and froze. Antoinette was gone. I choked up a cry as I frantically searched for her or any sign of life. I could hear voices from outside of the plane but not inside. I tried not to look at the charred and maimed bodies of the passengers.

There was no time to grieve. I could smell the jet fuel and the fire in the distance. I had to leave the plane right away before the rest of the wreckage became engulfed with flame. With a hard pull, I managed to unbuckle my seat belt and slowly slid out of my seat.

I glanced at my side and saw a couple of passengers staring at each other in shock. I took a deep breath and cleared my throat. "We need to get out of here. _Now_!" I shouted, thankfully pulling them out of their trance.

It didn't take us long to get outside. We tried to run towards the field where some of the survivors were standing. There were about twenty passengers standing in the field. They were all covered in debris and soot.

"_Antoine_!"

I turned my head and my eyes widened in disbelief as I saw Antoinette stumbling across a large heap of destroyed seats. She was bleeding on her head, clutching her limp arm in pain.

I stood up as much as I could and rushed to Antoinette. "Are you alright?" I asked, trying to support her. I yelped out in pain as I stood up straight. Great, I had a bad feeling that some of my ribs were broken.

"Oh yes," Antoinette choked out. She stared at me for a moment. "But I think my arm isn't."

"We're not that far from the airport," I said. "The ambulances should be coming in no time."

"I sure hope so," she said, cringing as she tried to move her arm. She sighed in defeat. "Well, it looks like this arm is useless to me now."

"The paramedics will take us to the hospital. The doctors can fix your arm."

"I can't feel it…" She sighed she allowed me to lead her towards the field. "Have you seen Mike or Christine or Lise…"

I shook my head as I felt a pang of dread in my gut. I didn't even look for them. We didn't say anything else as we continued to walk. I wasn't feeling all that bad. My chest and my arm hurt, but it could've been worse. I had just reached the rest of the passengers when my head, out of the blue, began to throb with pain.

"My head…" I muttered, rubbing it. It was ringing- the pain was unbearable as if someone was literally banging a hammer against it. I let one of the passengers lay me down on the grass."

I blinked into the sky, dazed. I could picture Roma standing over me, with his trademark glare, yelling me in Italian about how I broke my promise about returning to Chicago in one piece.

"The ambulance is coming," he said, "I could hear the sirens in the distance. Don't worry everything is going to be fine."

I gave him an unconvinced look before everything went black.

* * *

I was in the hospital, lying down. My legs were asleep, my arm was still bothering me, but my headache was gone, and I couldn't tell you how glad I was for that. My destroyed uniform was replaced by a white hospital gown. My hands and arm was wrapped and I could see my chest wrapped from under the garment.

I tried to sick up on the bed, but the sharp pain on my side told me it was a very bad idea.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a woman, a nurse said as she approached my bedside. She checked the machines next to the bed. "Good morning, welcome back, Mr. Carriedo."

"How long have I been out?"

The nurse looked at me then back at her clipboard, "For almost a day." She placed the clipboard on the counter near the door and took out a box from one of the cabinets. "Looks like we have to change your bandages."

I glanced down at my arm and noticed a red spot forming. "Oh."

"You're lucky to be alive," she quietly said, changing my bandages. "Considering everything, you're in pretty good shape." She paused. "I'm Nurse Joy, by the way."

I listened carefully as Nurse Joy listed the injuries I had sustained. I guessed she was right; I got out of the wreckage pretty okay- well least okay considering that I was just in a plane crash. I had a deep gash on my forearms from one of the metal beams that must've scraped against me on impact. I broke a couple of ribs and had to get several stitches on my forehead and some first degree burns on my hands.

"How many of us survived?"

Nurse Joy stared at me for a moment and sadly said, "Not many. There were only twenty-nine that made it here. Two died yesterday, and one earlier this morning."

I closed my eyes and fought back tears. I had a horrible feeling that the amount of survivors wouldn't be that much. It broke my heart knowing I couldn't save more people. I knew what everyone would say; they would all tell me that it wasn't my fault and there was nothing else I could do. But I couldn't help but felt terrible.

"How is Antoinette Strauss?"

"That old woman with the limp arm?" She smiled. "Oh yes, she's okay. She's definitely the life of the party. I think she has a crush in some of our doctors."

I softly chuckled. That was Antoinette for you. She had flirted with several of our male passengers during the flight. "That's good."

Nurse Joy gently patted my good arm. "You should rest now. You've suffered some head trauma but it's not too bad."

I nodded and as soon as the nurse left, I went right back to sleep.

* * *

By the time I woke back up, it was dark outside. I tried to sit up but then remembered what the nurse had said. I let out a frustrated sigh and leaned back in my bed and looked around trying to figure out what to do next. Maybe I should call my mother, just to tell her that I was fine-

And there Romano was sitting across from me, glaring at me as if I had just the worst thing human mind had ever seen. "I should really kick your ass for almost giving me a heart attack, but Liz said I would get arrested if I did."

I blinked, stunned. I knew we weren't in Chicago. No, earlier I had overheard one of the nurses talking something about traffic on the New Jersey Turnpike.

I would be lying if I said I wasn't confused. I didn't remember being anywhere near Chicago. I was somewhere in New Jersey, near Newark Airport, lying in a hospital.

"Roma, how did you-?"

Romano rolled his eyes and crossed his arms across his chest. "How the hell do you think we got here? Liz and I drove thirteen fucking hours just to see your injured ass."

My eyes widened in disbelief. They did _what_? I looked behind Roma and caught sight of Isabella standing outside of the hospital room talking to one of the doctors. She had a concerned yet relieved look on her face.

I couldn't… they had driven thirteen hours just to see me in the hospital. I didn't know what to say. I hadn't expected them to do this.

"You came to New Jersey, all the way from Chicago?"

Romano rolled his eyes again. He huffed, mumbled something under his breath in Italian that was probably an insult. "Of course we did, asshole." He said. "Liz had said that we should wait until you came back, but fuck that. I wasn't waiting a couple of days to yell at you in person."

I smiled weakly up at Romano. There wasn't any word that could describe who glad I was to have Roma right beside me. It was refreshing to hear his voice even though he had verbally threatened my life and called me very colorful names.

Romano watched me with weary eyes as I tried to make myself comfortable on the bed, more like cot.

"I'm so glad you're here…" I mumbled, moving up in the bed. I couldn't believe how uncomfortable it was. The fact that I had managed to sleep on here for almost twenty-four hours was amazing.

When I looked at Roma again, he had his hands behind his head and turned his head to the side, refusing to look at me.

"Roma…"

"You almost died."

"But I didn't…"

"They said that over two hundred people died. You could've been one of them!" Romano looked down at his lap and frowned deeply. "I thought you died…"

He looked like he was moments from crying. All I wanted to do was reach other and give him a tight hug, but my ribs were not going to cooperate with me.

"Lo siento, Roma. Please forgive me."

Romano wiped his eyes with the edge of his sleeves. He sniffled a few times before saying,

"We're going to go back to Chicago in a car- you're not going back on a plane anytime soon -and you're going to stay at my place and you're not moving for at least a week, no a month. And I'll take care of you. And maybe I'll get Feli to help too, because he likes doing that shit. Do you understand me, tomato bastard?"

I nodded meekly. The funny thing was I was thinking the same thing. "Yes, my love."

I didn't understand how anyone could think that Romano wasn't sweet. Maybe he didn't show it in the most conventional way, but he was. He really was.

**To be Continued…**

**Thank you very much for reading and you lovely responses!**


	12. Chapter 12

_** One Week Later...**_

I didn't think Romano truly understood how much he drove me crazy.

I was spread out on his bed, receiving what had to be the best oral sex in my _entire life_, trying my best not to move a muscle. I had promised that I would not, but it wasn't easy to do, not with the way Romano's mouth and tongue moved. All I wanted was to reach other and grab Roma's hair, yank on it hard, forcing his head to go lower.

I couldn't keep his eyes off of him. My neck was straining, my head was pounding and there were splinters of pain traveling throughout my upper chest because I was slightly lifting myself up, but I didn't care. I was mesmerized, watching him- his mouth slowly coming back up, stopping at the top for a kiss before going back down.

I never understood why Roma complained about being horrible at this. He was doing a _fine_ job.

"Ay Dios, Roma! _Sí_!"

He stopped, looked at me with a raised eyebrow and released me with an obscene pop that would certainly haunt my dreams for the rest of my days. "You're okay, bastard?"

"Yeah…"

"You're chest isn't hurting, is it?" He slowly smirked when I attempted to move again, which wasn't very successful. As expected, my chest rebelled against me and I had to freeze before the pain got worse. Seriously, for now on, I was going to take some pain medication before I do _anything_ intimate with Roma. Because this was getting ridiculous. "We can stop if you want. I don't want you injuring _another_ body part."

I narrowed my eyes. Of course he would suggest before he proceeded to slowly move his tongue along my cock, stopping to suck at the tip, not once removing lust-ridden eyes from mine. "_Fuck_, _don't you dare_…"

Romano shrugged, backed away and turned his attention to my kiss. He placed a kiss on each side. "I want to kiss you badly," Roma said, slowly rubbing my inner thighs. "But I don't want to climb over you and do it. I can hold myself up, but I don't want to slip and fall on you by accident."

"You don't want to take a risk?"

Romano actually chuckled at that. "I thought about it, but then I realized what would happen if I really did fall on you. You can't afford to break any more bones, not only would you be out of work longer, but our "no fucking" period will also be extended." He gave me a pointed look. "And then I'm going to be annoyed."

"I thought you said you were good at being c-celibate. You did it for a long time…" I breathed out as Romano flexed his fingers around the base of my cock.

He stared at me as if he was trying to figure out if I was serious or not. "Yeah, that was different time. Like I've said before, I was pretty good with this "no sex" thing until you came along and fucked everything up. Literally. Do the world a favor, don't move."

Romano began to move his hand in a slow (of course it was) pace, causing me to make short gasps. I had to admit. It was starting to get pretty painful. I was supposed to make long deep breaths, doctor's orders, not short quick pants, but I couldn't help it. My race to achieve an orgasm has restarted and already I was past the half-way point.

I tried to move a bit to the side to get more comfortable. "Shit," I gasped and not in a good way as I felt excruciating pain traveling across my chest. Damn it, I moved the wrong way again and now my ribs hated me for me it.

Roma stopped his hand and looked up with a half-heartened glare before continuing his ministrations, finally picking up the pace this time.

"Didn't I tell you not to move? If we have to stop because your chest hurts because your dumbass doesn't know how to follow directions, I'm going to be mad."

I smiled weakly at him and then placed my head back on the pillow. I closed my eyes, gripped the sheets right beside me, mouth hanging open as I could feel my body becoming undone from the way Roma moved his hands.

Oh man, he was slowing down again. I groaned, trying to move my hips up, hoping that doing so would give Roma a hint to go back to _faster_, but he kept on pushing them down, never once quickening his torturous pace-

_"Fratello! Antonio!'_

Since when did Feliciano get home? I thought he was going to be at work until seven. That was what Roma had told me (and part of the reason why we had decided that the past few hours were a good time to do things… we wouldn't be interrupted).

"Oh, you have got to be-" Romano cursed, sitting back before glaring at the door. He looked down at my pained face and said in an apologetic voice. "Sorry, we have to stop."

"I know."

I closed my eyes and prayed that this was a horrible nightmare. It always seemed like Feliciano liked to come home during the worst possible times. Roma certainly agreed. He glared at me, as if Feliciano's arrival was my doing then at the door then back at me and cursed.

"I'm seriously considering getting my own place," Roma grumbled, carefully pulling my pants up (I had offered, but I only receive a scowl in response) and rebuttoning it. He sat up and slid off the bed. "You'll be able to stay over there when you're not going around trying to get yourself killed by being in a thin metal tube, thirty thousand feet in the air.

I blinked at him.

Roma rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath.

"If I move out, chances are Feli is going to bring the potato bastard over and I don't think you want to be here when that happens."

I blinked again.

"Never mind."

After looking at the door with confusion for a few moments, I looked at Roma. He looked at me and as if on cue, we both started panicking. Romano rushed over to me as I tried to rebutton my shirt that I had completely forgotten was open, without hurting myself. He ended up slapping my hands away and doing it himself even after my protests.

Unfortunately, we weren't fast enough-

"I have the greatest news!" Feliciano shouted as he barged into his room. If he realized that Romano and I weren't fully clothed and were in a compromising position, he didn't show it. He clapped his hands while Romano scowled at him. "I have decided to throw a little dinner party tonight!"

Romano and I stopped what we were doing and blinked at him.

"A dinner party?" I slowly said, quickly glancing at Roma who had his usual scowl on his face as he reached for his shirt across the bed and put in on. "For what? What's the occasion?"

A part of me didn't want to know.

"To celebrate you for not dying in the plane crash, of course."

I smiled at Feliciano, ignoring Romano's snort. Roma might say that he was annoying and at times stupid, he had a good heart. "That is so kind of you, Feliciano. But you don't have to throw a dinner party for me. You've done enough for me, trust me."

"Oh please, there's no need to say another word," Feliciano said, clapping with excitement. I had briefly forgotten about his love for playing host to _anything_. "I love throwing dinner parties, especially for my family and friends."

Romano leaned in and whispered, "He's never thrown one for PT because he doesn't have any friends. Except for this Japanese guy who's always sat Greta's…"

I gave him a slight glare. I supposed "PT" was short for "Potato Bastard." I would've elbowed him for his comment, but that would consist of moving and- that wasn't going to happen any time soon. 'Thank you, Feliciano." I said gratefully. "That would nice."

"I'm so happy you've agreed! I'm going to invite everyone, including Maria, Katsuya and Natalya," he exclaimed loudly, earning an insult from Romano (not surprising) and a short laugh for me. "Oh! And I have to tell Ludwig to bring the cake a beer."

"And why the hell do we have to invite the potato bastard?"

Feliciano looked offended.

"It's fine, Roma. It would nice to see Ludwig again. Maybe he can bring one of his delicious cake, si?" I asked with hope. I ignored the glare from Romano as he got off his bed. I knew Roma wasn't very fond of him, but even he couldn't deny that Ludwig needed to quit his day job and open a bakery; he knew how to make amazing desserts.

"Grazie, Antonio."

Feliciano bowed almost comically, apologized for interrupting our moment (great, so that meant he had caught us _again_) and quickly left the room, gently closing the door. Romano and I glanced at each other, thinking of something to say. Romano ran his hands through his hair as he paced around the room a few times with a rather serious look on his face. I tried to sit up to see what was up, but then decided that perhaps that wouldn't be a good idea.

"Roma, are you…?"

"You know, I'm starting not to like him…"

"Why? Because he had invited Ludwig over here? Doesn't he always do that?"

"Doesn't mean I like it."

"I know you don't," I said quietly. "But Feliciano loves him and from what I've seen, Ludwig feels the same way, though he's not the romantic type. I'm sure you can tolerate him for your brother."

"What the hell do you think I've been doing for the past couple of years?" He pouted and then frowned. "He should be grateful that I'm nice enough not to ick his ass."

"I'm sure Feliciano is too." I shook my head as Romano continued to stand there, acting like he was mad at the world. I sighed. "

"Roma, stop moping and lay down next to me, por favor?"

"I'm not moping," Romano said as he climbed on his bed. He looked down at me and slightly frowned. "I don't mope."

"Okay, Roma, you don't mope."

Romano didn't say anything, moving closer to me. He glanced at my hand. "Your bandages need to be changed," he pointed out, sliding off the bed. "I'll back right back," and with that he headed towards the bathroom.

Oh my, I had completely forgotten about that. Thank god for Romano; he knew my "pill taking, bandage changing" schedule more than I did. Even at work, he would text me as a reminder to do what the doctors had told me. It was awfully sweet of him, because I had the tendency to forget the schedule (according to the doctors, I might have slight memory loss for a little while due to my head trauma- or something like that).

I had been in Chicago for the past week. (I had initially thought I would be bored just staying at Romano's apartment, not going to work and spending most of my day laying down. But I had to admit, living with the Vargas brothers had been quite entertaining, especially when they argued over Ludwig, pasta and the television remote.) And during the past week, I had told Roma plenty of times that he didn't have act like my personal nurse (although, I would be lying to say that I didn't appreciate all of this effort) and that there was more to life than making sure that I was okay- as expected, that led to an argument.

I didn't say anything to him yet. I was sure that if I told him anything, he would be offended. And I shouldn't complain. I was alive. I would able to be completely healed in a month. And I had Roma to take care of me. Of course Roma might have gone a bit overboard. He had brought about twenty ice packs (and no, I wasn't kidding), five bottles of vitamins that I was pretty sure I didn't need, tons of wraps and first aid kits.

I muttered a thanks when Romano came back from the bathroom with a new set of bandages. He didn't reply. He only sat down next to me and told me not to move a muscle or he would punch me somewhere that wouldn't hurt much.

I only smiled at him and let him do his thing. I had given up protesting a long time ago. "I can't wait for the day I don't have to wear those."

"You and me both. You're useless with one hand."

"I'm capable with one hand."

"Yeah, you would be if you didn't also have a bunch for broken ribs."

True.

The road to recovery was going to be a long one. My injuries were not going to heal for another month, and then I would have to go to physical therapy for my chest and my almost collapsed lung. I wouldn't be able to go to work for a other two months, which was a downer. Not because of the money- thankfully I was smart enough to do some massive savings so I wouldn't starve or be homeless until I could get on a plane again. But because I actually liked being in the air, going to new places and meeting new people no matter how crazy they are.

"When will you be able to get back to work?" Roma asked while he changed the bandages on my hand. I had told him numerous ones that I could change them by myself but he insisted, more like demanded that he would only do it.

I looked up at the ceiling and sighed. "Not anytime soon. Hopefully a few months from now."

"So... Where you're going to stay until then? It's not like you have your own place."

I didn't think about that. Damn it, it would have been a good time to have my own apartment. "I don't-"

"Never mind," Roma said, cutting me off. He patted my newly wrapped hand gently. 'You'll just have to stay here. There's no way in hell I'm going to let you stay with Natalya for three months."

I chuckled. Natalya wasn't that bad. I mean, she had her moments, and according to Katia, she was still determined as ever to be her brother's wife. Natalya had volunteered to come over and help out, but I politely declined. And I could see her and Roma attempting to raise hell because they didn't like each other. I stopped chuckling when I realized what Roma had offered. I looked at him, blinked then sighed sadly. "Roma…"

"Shut up, bastard. I know what you're going to say and I don't want to hear it." He stared at me for a minute then leaned over to give me a side kiss, making sure he kept himself up on the bed by an arm. I reached up and trailed my fingers through his brown hair, tugging on it as the kiss depended. I missed this so much- his mouth, his hands man, _everything_ about him. I groaned as I felt Roma's free hand traveling down my shirt towards my hips.

Roma stopped the kiss and his hand, cursed and sat up. "You know your injury is messing everything up."

"Lo siento, Roma…"

I couldn't fault Roma for being so annoyed. I felt the same way. I had been injured before, but not like this. My hands were wrapped up from the burns. My hand had severe headaches here and there. Sometimes it was painful to breathe- and I didn't want to talk about how much my chest felt.

Full-fledge sex was sadly out of the question. We had tried, and trust me, _we had tried_, but each time the result was the same. I had either moved a certain way that caused my chest to be in unbearable pain or it hurt tremendously when I breathed. Then Romano would feel bad and apologize for injuring me and then would yell at me for having broken bones in the first place and then by that time, all arousing feelings would have disappeared.

My ribs unfortunately dictated when I could do strenuous activities again. Once they healed, all would be right in the world. No more worrying about injuring myself for being too uh… active. No more donating precious unopened box of condoms to Feliciano (Romano refused to acknowledge this. Understandably so, he found anything regarding his little brother's sex life disturbing.) And no more complaints about sexual deprivation from Roma.

"You owe me big time, bastard."

"Just give me one month."

Romano didn't respond. He only moved closer to me and ran his hands up my chest and to my neck, rubbing it gently. I watched him as he leaned down to give a small kiss on my shoulder. I smiled with content to myself. I was one lucky man.

I moved my head to the side as Romano turned his attention to my neck, pressing kisses along as I let out a low guttural groan. It felt so damn _good_. "Te amo, Roma…" I blurted out, in a breathless voice as he trailed a hand back down my chest and landed on my crotch. I didn't think of anything when he suddenly stopped, sat up and stared at me speechless as if he had just found out I was from outer space.

"Roma-"

Did I just…?

Judging from the unreadable expression on Roma's face, it was pretty clear that I did. Crap, I didn't mean to say that out loud. I mean, it wasn't a lie. I was in love him; pretty sure I had been since that fateful flight more than a couple of months ago. But that didn't mean I wanted to tell him, at least not now.

_It just slipped. _

**Thank you all for the overwhelming response etc. from last chapter and your patience for this chapter. You all are amazing.**

**Also, "te amo" means "I love you."**


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